Omou hito komu to shiriseba yaemugura ōeru niwa ni tama shikamashi o

思ふ人来むと知りせば八重葎
覆へる庭に玉敷かましを

Roma-ji: Omou hito komu to shiriseba yaemugura ōeru niwa ni tama shikamashi o
English Translation: Had I only known
that the one I love would come,
over the garden
thick with tangled creeping weeds
I would have spread jewels
Meaning: Had I known the one I love was coming, I would have strewn jewels over this garden overgrown with tangled weeds.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2824

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Questions and Answers"
Had she known beforehand that the one she loves would come, she would have strewn jewels over this weed-choked garden and welcomed him so: this is a woman's poem. Joy at the unexpected visit is mixed with shame at receiving him in so shabby a dwelling.
By the left note "the two poems above," this is the question paired with the next poem, 2825. That poem takes up her words with "what use a house strewn with jewels?" and answers that even a hut overgrown with weeds is enough if he is with her. The contrast between a jewel-strewn garden and a weed-covered dwelling runs through both poems of the exchange.
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, "omou hito": "the one I love." Rather than naming him, "the one I think of" lets a secret longing show through.
Second line, "komu to shiriseba": "had I known you would come." "Mu" is conjectural, and "seba," from "se," the irrealis form of the past auxiliary "ki," plus "ba," works with "mashi" in the last line to express a contrary-to-fact supposition.
Third line, "yaemugura": tangled weeds grown many layers deep. The word conveys a dwelling gone to ruin, and the next poem takes it up as well.
Fourth line, "ōeru niwa ni": "over the garden they cover." "Ru," the attributive form of the continuative auxiliary "ri," shows the weeds left to spread unchecked.
Fifth line, "tama shikamashi o": "I would have strewn jewels." "Mashi" expresses the contrary-to-fact, and "o" is a conjunctive particle charged with feeling, voicing regret for what could not be done.
Source: Manyoshu
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