Kokoro ni wa chie ni momoe ni omoeredo hitome o ōmi imo ni awanu kamo

心には千重に百重に思へれど
人目を多み妹に逢はぬかも

Roma-ji: Kokoro ni wa chie ni momoe ni omoeredo hitome o ōmi imo ni awanu kamo
English Translation: Within my heart
a thousandfold, a hundredfold
I think of you,
but with so many watching eyes
I cannot meet my love
Meaning: In my heart I think of you a thousand times over, yet with so many watching eyes, I cannot meet you.
Commentary: Book Twelve Expressing Thoughts Directly 2910

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Thoughts Directly"
The poet laments that, though the heart is full of love a thousand times over, too many watching eyes prevent a meeting. The magnitude of inner feeling is set against the outer obstacle of other people's eyes.
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, "kokoro ni wa," means "within my heart." Poem 2932 in this book opens "kokoro ni wa moete omoedo" and follows the same structure.
Line two, "chie ni momoe ni," means "a thousandfold, a hundredfold," exaggerating numbers to show depth of feeling.
Line three, "omoeredo," means "though I think of you."
Line four, "hitome o ōmi," means "because there are so many eyes."
Line five, "imo ni awanu kamo," means "I do not meet her," the same final line as poem 2932.
Author: Unknown
Source: Manyoshu
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