Wagimoko ni aga kouraku wa mizu naraba shigarami koshite yukubeku omōyu

我妹子に我が恋ふらくは水ならば
しがらみ越して行くべく思ほゆ

Roma-ji: Wagimoko ni aga kouraku wa mizu naraba shigarami koshite yukubeku omōyu
English Translation: This love that I feel
for my darling, my dear one,
were it water, then
over any weir it would
surely surge and flow, I feel
Meaning: If the love I feel for my beloved were water, it seems to me it would surely pour over even the weir and flow on.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2709

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Feelings through Things"
Likening his love for her to water, the speaker sings of its intensity: were it water, it would flow on over even the weir built to hold it back. The strength of a feeling that cannot be suppressed is boldly expressed in the form of a supposition.
This poem expresses feelings through the flow of water and is distinctive in likening love itself to water. It shares the image of the weir with poem 2721 in this book, but while that poem laments a heart in which love stagnates, this one sings of love overflowing the weir, making a striking contrast.
The original text notes a variant: "or in one book the opening lines read 'aiomowanu hito o omowaku,'" in which the first two lines mean "my thinking of one who does not think of me." Here the main text, "wagimoko ni aga kouraku wa," has been adopted.
The author is unknown. The anonymous poems of Book Eleven gather love poems by people whose names have not been handed down.

First line, "wagimoko ni": "for my darling." "Wagimoko" is a word a man uses to address his lover or wife with affection.
Second line, "aga kouraku wa": "my loving." "Kouraku" is the nominalized form of the verb "kou" (to love).
Third line, "mizu naraba": "if it were water," setting up the supposition that likens love to water.
Fourth line, "shigarami koshite": "passing over the weir that dams the river." The weir can be read as a figure for the eyes of others and the obstacles of the world.
Fifth line, "yukubeku omōyu": "it seems it would surely flow on." "Beku" is the continuative form of the auxiliary "beshi," and "omōyu" expresses something that comes naturally to mind.
Source: Manyoshu
Prev Poem: Shinagadori inayama toyo ni yuku mizu no na nomi yosorishi komorizuma wa mo
Next Poem: Inukami no toko no yama naru isayagawa isa to o kikose waga na norasu na