Suga no ne no nemokoro imo ni kouru ni shi masuraogokoro omōenu kamo

菅の根のねもころ妹に恋ふるにし
大夫心思ほえぬかも

Roma-ji: Suga no ne no nemokoro imo ni kouru ni shi masuraogokoro omōenu kamo
English Translation: Like the roots of sedge,
fondly, deeply, for my love
I have pined so long
that the heart of a brave man
no longer comes to my mind
Meaning: As deep and fine as the roots of sedge, I have loved my beloved with all my heart, and now the bold spirit of a man no longer even comes to mind.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2758

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Feelings through Things"
This love poem laments that, having longed so wholeheartedly for the beloved, the speaker has lost all manly courage. A man who prides himself on being a masurao looks at himself grown weak through love.
It is a poem "Expressing Feelings through Things" that speaks through sedge roots, following the sedge of Arima in the preceding poem. Poem 2761 later in this book also sings of sedge roots in "iwamotosuge no ne fukaku mo," and like this poem's "nemokoro" it overlays the roots with the depth of love. The lament that love robs a man of his manly heart is a motif often found in men's love poems in 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, "suga no ne no": a pillow word attached to "nemokoro." It connects through the fine, long-reaching roots of sedge and the repeated sound "ne."
Second line, "nemokoro imo ni": "devotedly, to my beloved." "Nemokoro" describes giving one's whole heart in fine detail.
Third line, "kouru ni shi": "because I love." "Ni" is a case particle of cause and "shi" an emphatic particle.
Fourth line, "masuraogokoro": the bold and valiant heart of a masurao, a word charged with the pride of a fine man.
Fifth line, "omōenu kamo": "it no longer comes to mind." "Nu" is the attributive form of the negative auxiliary "zu," and the final particle "kamo" closes with deep feeling, voicing the grief of a heart so taken by love that it can no longer keep its courage.
Source: Manyoshu
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