Masokagami tadani shi imo o aimizu wa aga koi yamaji toshi wa henu tomo

まそ鏡直にし妹を相見ずは
我が恋やまじ年は経ぬとも

Roma-ji: Masokagami tadani shi imo o aimizu wa aga koi yamaji toshi wa henu tomo
English Translation: As in a clear mirror,
unless I see my love herself
face to face again,
this longing will never cease,
even though the years go by
Meaning: Unless I meet my beloved face to face, my longing will never end, even though the years pass by.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2632

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Feelings through Things"
Unless he meets his beloved face to face, his longing will never cease, even as the years go by: the poem declares a love that does not change. It shows a single-minded heart that believes only meeting in person, not messages through others or dreams, can quiet the pain of love.
This poem speaks through a mirror, and with the next poem and the one after, three poems in a row begin with or contain "masokagami." The wish to meet face to face, as one looks into a mirror, is common to this group.
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, "masokagami": a clear, polished mirror; since one looks straight into a mirror, it is understood here as a pillow word leading to "tadani" (directly) and "aimi" (seeing each other).
Second line, "tadani shi imo o": "my beloved directly." "Tadani" means in person, without intermediaries, strengthened by the emphatic particle "shi."
Third line, "aimizu wa": "if I do not see her face to face." "Aimiru" means to meet, and "zu wa" forms a negative condition.
Fourth line, "aga koi yamaji": "my longing will not cease," stated firmly with the negative conjectural auxiliary "ji"; the poem breaks here.
Fifth line, "toshi wa henu tomo": "even though the years go by." The particle "tomo" forms a concessive hypothesis inverted with the fourth line, stressing at the end how long the longing will last.
Source: Manyoshu
Prev Poem: Nubatama no kurokami shikite nagaki yo o tamakura no ue ni imo matsuramu ka
Next Poem: Masokagami te ni torimochite asana sana mimu toki sae ya koi no shigekemu