Kataito mochi nukitaru tama no o o yowami midare ya shinamu hito no shirubeku

片糸もち貫きたる玉の緒を弱み
乱れやしなむ人の知るべく

Roma-ji: Kataito mochi nukitaru tama no o o yowami midare ya shinamu hito no shirubeku
English Translation: With a single thread
strung through them, the jewels' cord
is weak, and therefore
will I fall into disarray
so that all the world may know?
Meaning: Like jewels threaded on a weak single strand that snaps and scatters, will I too fall into turmoil, so much that others come to know?
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2791

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Feelings through Things"
As jewels threaded on a weak single strand scatter when the cord breaks, the speaker fears falling into such turmoil that others will notice. The frailty of a heart that can barely hold itself together is laid over a thin, weak thread.
In the sequence on the cord of jewels, poem 2788 did not fear discovery, saying "shiraba shiru tomo," while this poem fears it, saying "hito no shirubeku"; both sing of a cord snapping and jewels scattering, yet the attitude toward others' eyes is reversed.
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, "kataito mochi": "with a single strand." "Kataito" is thread not twisted with another, a weak thread. The first three lines form a preface leading to "midare" (scattering).
Second line, "nukitaru tama no": "of the jewels strung through." "Taru" is the attributive of the continuative "tari," describing jewels threaded on the cord.
Third line, "o o yowami": "since the cord is weak." This is the so-called "mi" construction, the stem of the adjective "yowashi" with the suffix "mi" after "o," expressing cause; a weak cord snapping leads into "midare" below.
Fourth line, "midare ya shinamu": "will I fall into disarray?" The particle "ya" marks a question and is answered by "namu," with "mu" in its attributive form, forming a kakari-musubi construction. "Na" is the irrealis form of the intensive "nu."
Fifth line, "hito no shirubeku": "so that others know." "Beku," the continuative form of "beshi," expresses degree. Through inversion it modifies "midare ya shinamu" in the fourth line, adding at the end the fear of others' eyes.
Source: Manyoshu
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