Hitome ōmi tsune kaku nomi shi samorawaba izure no toki ka aga koizu aramu

人目多み常かくのみしさもらはば
いづれの時か我が恋ひずあらむ

Roma-ji: Hitome ōmi tsune kaku nomi shi samorawaba izure no toki ka aga koizu aramu
English Translation: With so many eyes,
if always and only thus
I watch and I wait,
at what time, when will it come
that I no longer must long?
Meaning: If, because there are so many eyes, I always do nothing but watch and wait like this, when will the time ever come that I am free from longing?
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2606

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing One's Feelings Directly"
Held back by the many watching eyes and forever waiting for a chance, the speaker laments that this way there will never be an escape from the pain of love. The poem captures the frustration of longing that only grows while one waits for a chance to meet unseen.
Poem 2591 of this book likewise speaks of the anxiety of not meeting while watching for a lull in gossip, and its "ma moru" and this poem's "samorau" both describe waiting for an opportunity. Following the preceding poem of an unexpected encounter, this one speaks of the pain of a love that cannot find a chance to meet.
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, "hitome ōmi": "because there are many eyes." The adjective stem with "mi" expresses a reason, the so-called mi construction.
Second line, "tsune kaku nomi shi": "always only like this." The particle "nomi" is reinforced by the emphatic "shi," stressing an unchanging state.
Third line, "samorawaba": "if I keep watching and waiting." "Samorau" means to wait while watching for a chance, and the irrealis with "ba" expresses a hypothetical condition.
Fourth line, "izure no toki ka": "at what time." The particle "ka" marks a question and is answered by the attributive "mu" in the last line.
Fifth line, "aga koizu aramu": "will I be free from longing?" "Mu" is the conjectural auxiliary, answering "ka" in the fourth line. The line has one syllable too many.
Source: Manyoshu
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