Azusayumi hikimi yuruemi kozu wa kozu koba ko so o nazo kozu wa koba so o

梓弓引きみ緩へみ来ずは来ず
来ば来そをなぞ来ずは来ばそを

Roma-ji: Azusayumi hikimi yuruemi kozu wa kozu koba ko so o nazo kozu wa koba so o
English Translation: As a catalpa bow
now drawn taut and now let slack,
come not if not coming,
if coming, come: why then
not coming, you come, like that
Meaning: Like a catalpa bow now drawn and now slackened, if you will not come, then do not come, and if you will come, then come; why then, when I think you will not come, do you come, like that?
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2640

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Feelings through Things"
Like a catalpa bow drawn and then slackened, the man will neither clearly come nor clearly stay away, and the woman reproaches him: if you will not come, then don't; if you will, then do. Through wordplay repeating the verb "ku" (come) again and again, the poem voices her irritation at being kept in suspense, in a half-teasing tone.
Following the two preceding poems, it speaks through a bow, likening the drawing and slackening of a bow to a man who raises her hopes and then draws away. The reading and interpretation of the second half vary, and it is known as one of the difficult poems of the Man'yoshu.
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, "azusayumi": a bow of catalpa wood, a pillow word attached to "hiki" (draw) since a bow is drawn.
Second line, "hikimi yuruemi": "now drawing, now slackening." Repeating the suffix "mi" after the continuative forms of verbs shows two actions alternating, likening it to the man's coming and not coming.
Third line, "kozu wa kozu": "if you will not come, then don't." "Zu wa" expresses a negative condition, and the same verb is repeated to make the statement firm.
Fourth line, "koba ko so o nazo": "if you come, then come; why then that?" "Koba" is a conditional, "so o" means "that," and "nazo" means "why," pressing him about his behavior.
Fifth line, "kozu wa koba so o": "not coming, you come, that." By exchanging and repeating "ku" and "kozu," the poem closes as if mirroring his indecisive conduct.
Source: Manyoshu
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