Sakurao no ofu no shitakusa hayaku oiba imo ga shitabimo tokazu aramashi o

桜麻の麻生の下草早く生ひば
妹が下紐解かずあらましを

Roma-ji: Sakurao no ofu no shitakusa hayaku oiba imo ga shitabimo tokazu aramashi o
English Translation: In the hemp field
of the cherry hemp, if only
the undergrowth had grown,
my darling's under-sash
I would never have untied
Meaning: If only the undergrowth in the cherry-hemp field had grown sooner, I would not have untied my beloved's under-sash.
Commentary: Book Twelve Expressing Thoughts through Things 3049

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Thoughts through Things"
The poet looks back, saying that had the undergrowth in the hemp field grown sooner, he would not have untied his beloved's under-sash. It is thought to carry mixed feelings about having consummated the love, though interpretations vary, including how the first three lines connect.
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, "sakurao no," is taken to be a kind of hemp, leading to "ofu," a hemp field.
Line two, "ofu no shitakusa," means "the undergrowth of the hemp field."
Line three, "hayaku oiba," means "if it had grown sooner," a counterfactual condition corresponding to "mashi" in line five.
Line four, "imo ga shitabimo," means "my beloved's under-sash."
Line five, "tokazu aramashi o," means "I would not have untied it," thought to carry mixed feelings about the consummated love, though interpretations vary.
Author: Unknown
Source: Manyoshu
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