Ametsuchi ni sukoshi itaranu masurao to omoishi ware ya ogokoro mo naki

天地に少し至らぬ大夫と
思ひし我れや雄心もなき

Roma-ji: Ametsuchi ni sukoshi itaranu masurao to omoishi ware ya ogokoro mo naki
English Translation: Falling just short
of heaven and of earth,
a true man of might,
so I thought of myself, yet now
I have no manly heart at all
Meaning: I thought myself a true man, falling only a little short of heaven and earth in greatness, yet now love has left me without a shred of manly spirit.
Commentary: Book Twelve Expressing Thoughts Directly 2875

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Thoughts Directly"
A man who prided himself on being a hero only slightly smaller than heaven and earth laments that love has robbed him of his manly spirit. The gap between his grand self-image and his present weakness impresses on us the power of love.
The poet is unknown. Book Twelve, titled the second part of "Love Poems Exchanged Old and New," gathers love poems by people whose names have not come down to us, arranged by category.

Line one, "ametsuchi ni," means "to heaven and earth."
Line two, "sukoshi itaranu," means "falling only a little short," an exaggeration that he was almost as great as heaven and earth.
Line three, "masurao to," refers to a fine, manly man. Poem 2907 in this book also portrays a man weakened by love: "masurao no satoki kokoro mo ima wa nashi."
Line four, "omoishi ware ya": the particle "ya" is concluded by the attributive "naki" in line five.
Line five, "ogokoro mo naki," means "I have no manly heart," and in the gap between pride and present weakness the power of love becomes clear.
Author: Unknown
Source: Manyoshu
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