Ōroka ni ware shi omowaba hitozuma ni ari to iu imo ni koitsutsu arame ya

おほろかに我れし思はば人妻に
ありといふ妹に恋ひつつあらめや

Roma-ji: Ōroka ni ware shi omowaba hitozuma ni ari to iu imo ni koitsutsu arame ya
English Translation: If my love for you
were only half-hearted,
would I go on still
longing for a girl
they say is another's wife
Meaning: If my feelings were only casual, would I go on longing for a woman said to be another man's wife?
Commentary: Book Twelve Expressing Thoughts Directly 2909

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Thoughts Directly"
A man protests that he goes on loving a woman he knows to be married precisely because his feelings are not casual. Fully aware that the love is forbidden, he stresses the seriousness of his feelings.
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, "ōroka ni," means "casually, half-heartedly."
Line two, "ware shi omowaba," means "if I were to think so," with "shi" emphatic.
Line three, "hitozuma ni," means "another's wife." Poem 2866 in this book is a married woman rebuffing a suitor, contrasting with this poem from the other side.
Line four, "ari to iu imo ni," means "a girl said to be so."
Line five, "koitsutsu arame ya," is a rhetorical question, "would I go on loving? It is because I am serious that I do."
Author: Unknown
Source: Manyoshu
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