Kanikaku ni mono wa omowaji hidahito no utsu suminawa no tada hitomichi ni

かにかくに物は思はじ飛騨人の
打つ墨縄のただ一道に

Roma-ji: Kanikaku ni mono wa omowaji hidahito no utsu suminawa no tada hitomichi ni
English Translation: This way and that way
I will not trouble my heart:
like the inked cord
the Hida craftsmen snap straight,
simply on one single path
Meaning: I will not let my thoughts wander this way and that. Like the inked line the carpenters of Hida strike, I will keep to one single path.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2648

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Feelings through Things"
The speaker vows not to waver this way and that but to love with a single mind, straight as the inked line struck by the carpenters of Hida. Through the straight line of the ink cord, the poem vividly conveys a heart without hesitation.
The third and fourth lines picture the straight line the Hida craftsmen snap onto timber with an inked cord, forming a preface that leads to "tada hitomichi ni." The craftsmen of Hida were long known as skilled carpenters and were summoned to build the capital. After nets and cloth, this poem speaks through the ink cord, a carpenter's tool, and some read it as a woman's poem.
The author is unknown. The anonymous poems of Book Eleven gather the love poems of people whose names have not come down to us.

First line, "kanikaku ni": "this way and that," expressing a mind torn by doubt.
Second line, "mono wa omowaji": "I will not brood." "Ji" is the negative-volitional auxiliary, and the poem breaks here. The fifth line, "tada hitomichi ni," completes its sense in inverted order.
Third line, "hidahito no": people of Hida Province, now northern Gifu Prefecture, here the Hida craftsmen renowned as skilled carpenters.
Fourth line, "utsu suminawa no": "the inked cord they snap," used to mark a straight line on timber. With the third line it forms a preface to the last line.
Fifth line, "tada hitomichi ni": "simply on one path." It joins the straight inked line to a single-minded heart and returns to the second line to close the poem.
Source: Manyoshu
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