Shirushi naki koi o mo suru ka yū sareba hito no te makite nuramu ko yue ni

験なき恋をもするか夕されば
人の手まきて寝らむ子ゆゑに

Roma-ji: Shirushi naki koi o mo suru ka yū sareba hito no te makite nuramu ko yue ni
English Translation: What a fruitless love
is this love that I now bear,
for when evening falls,
pillowed upon another's arm,
she must lie asleep, that girl
Meaning: What a fruitless love I bear, all for a girl who, when evening comes, must sleep pillowed on another man's arm.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2599

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing One's Feelings Directly"
A man longs for a woman who, when evening comes, must be sleeping with her head on another man's arm, and mocks himself for a love that can bear no fruit. The poem expresses the helplessness of one-sided love that cannot be cut off even though it knows it will not be returned.
Whereas the preceding poem vows a woman's faithfulness to one man alone, this is the poem of a man who goes on loving a woman who belongs to another, so the course of love in the two contrasts. "When evening comes" is the same line as in poem 2588 of this book, marking the hour when longing grows with the coming of night.
The author is unknown. The anonymous poems of Book Eleven gather love poems by people whose names have not come down to us.

First line, "shirushi naki": "fruitless." "Shirushi" means effect or reward, and the poem declares at the outset that this love will go unrewarded.
Second line, "koi o mo suru ka": "what a love I bear!" "Ka" is an exclamatory particle, and the sense breaks after the second line. The lower half gives the reason, in an inverted structure.
Third line, "yū sareba": "when evening comes." "Sareba" is the verb "saru" with "ba," expressing the arrival of that time.
Fourth line, "hito no te makite": "pillowed on another's arm." "Maku" means to use an arm or the like as a pillow.
Fifth line, "nuramu ko yue ni": "for the girl who must be sleeping." "Ramu" conjectures about something happening now out of sight, and "yue ni" gives the reason.
Source: Manyoshu
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