Azusayumi sue wa shi shirazu shikaredomo masaka wa kimi ni yorinishi mono o

梓弓末はし知らずしかれども
まさかは君に寄りにしものを

Roma-ji: Azusayumi sue wa shi shirazu shikaredomo masaka wa kimi ni yorinishi mono o
English Translation: Like a catalpa bow,
how it ends I cannot know,
but even so,
in this very moment now
my heart has leaned to you
Meaning: Like the tip of a catalpa bow, I cannot tell how things will end, but right now my heart has already turned to you.
Commentary: Book Twelve Expressing Thoughts through Things 2985

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Thoughts through Things"
The poet declares that although their future is unknown, the heart has already turned to the beloved at this moment. From here a series of poems on the catalpa bow follows. A variant in the left note reads "azusayumi sue no tazuki wa shiranedomo kokoro wa kimi ni yorinishi mono o."
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, "azusayumi," a bow of catalpa wood, is a pillow word for "sue," the tip or the future, since the end of a bow is called "sue."
Line two, "sue wa shi shirazu," means "I do not know the future," with "shi" emphatic. The poem pauses here.
Line three, "shikaredomo," means "and yet."
Line four, "masaka wa kimi ni": "masaka" means "this very moment."
Line five, "yorinishi mono o," means "my heart has leaned to you." Poems 2986 and 2989 in this book end with the same line, forming a series on the catalpa bow.
Author: Unknown
Source: Manyoshu
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