妹と言はばなめし畏ししかすがに
懸けまく欲しき言にあるかも
懸けまく欲しき言にあるかも
- Roma-ji
-
Imo to iwaba nameshi kashikoshi shikasuga ni kakemaku hoshiki koto ni aru kamo
- English Translation
-
To call you "my love"
would be rude and far too bold,
and yet, even so,
it is the very word
I long to speak to you
- Meaning
- To call you "my love" would be rude and presumptuous, and yet it is the very word I long to say.
- Commentary
-
Book Twelve Expressing Thoughts Directly 2915
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Thoughts Directly"
The poet confesses that to call a woman of high rank "imo," my love, would be presumptuous, yet it is the word he longs to speak, voicing love across a difference in status. The longing invested in a single word conveys a heart torn between restraint and passion.
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, "imo to iwaba," means "if I were to call you my love."
Line two, "nameshi kashikoshi," means "rude and awe-inspiring," suggesting the woman is of high rank. The poem pauses here.
Line three, "shikasuga ni," means "and yet, even so."
Line four, "kakemaku hoshiki," means "that I wish to speak aloud."
Line five, "koto ni aru kamo," means "such is the word," showing an intense longing for the single word "imo."
- Author
- Unknown
- Source
- Manyoshu
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Utsukushi to omou wagimo o ime ni mite okite saguru ni naki ga sabushisa
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Tamakatsuma awamu to iu wa tare naru ka aeru toki sae omokakushi suru