Masokagami moteredo ware wa shirushi nashi kimi ga kachi yori nazumi yuku mireba

まそ鏡持てれど我れは験なし
君が徒歩よりなづみ行く見れば

Roma-ji: Masokagami moteredo ware wa shirushi nashi kimi ga kachi yori nazumi yuku mireba
English Translation: This clear bright mirror—
though I hold it, it is worth
nothing to me now,
when I see you on your way
on foot, struggling as you go
Meaning: Though I keep this clear mirror, it is of no use to me when I watch you struggling along on foot.
Commentary: Book Thirteen Dialogue Poems 3316

Headnote: "An envoy in a certain text reads"
This is an envoy to the chōka (3314) handed down in a certain text. Though she keeps her mother’s mirror, it is worthless to her as she watches her husband struggle along on foot. Taking up the chōka’s plea to give up the mirror and scarf and buy a horse, it voices the frustration that keeping the mirror cannot spare him his hardship.
The poet is unknown. Book Thirteen is built mainly of anonymous chōka and their envoys, and many of its poems preserve the air of old songs and ritual verse.

The first line, “masokagami,” means a clear, bright mirror, taking up the chōka’s “masomi kagami” and referring to her mother’s keepsake.
The second line, “moteredo ware wa,” means “though I hold it,” with “ri” stative and “do” concessive.
The third line, “shirushi nashi,” means “there is no use, no effect”; the poem breaks here.
In the fourth line, “kachi yori” means “on foot,” “yori” marking the means.
The closing line, “nazumi yuku mireba,” means “when I see you struggle along,” giving by inversion the reason for the lament in the third line; it is hypermetric.
Source: Manyoshu
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