Kaku bakari koishiku shi araba masokagami minu hi toki naku aramashi mono o

かくばかり恋しくしあらばまそ鏡
見ぬ日時なくあらましものを

Roma-ji: Kaku bakari koishiku shi araba masokagami minu hi toki naku aramashi mono o
English Translation: Had I known that I
would long for you as much as this,
like a polished mirror
without a day or hour unseen
I would have kept you by me
Meaning: Had I known I would miss you this much, I would have kept you by my side and looked at you every day and every hour, as one looks into a mirror.
Commentary: Book Nineteen 4221

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "A poem sent from the capital, with a short poem"; envoy, one poem
An envoy to the long poem that Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue in the capital sent to her daughter, Lady Sakanoue the Elder, who had gone down to Yakamochi in Etchū. It says that had she known she would miss her so, she would have kept looking at her every day and every hour, as one looks into a mirror, never parting—expressing regret at letting her daughter go and the pain of longing.
In the long poem she says that the daughter she cherished above even the jewels the sea god keeps in his comb box went down to Koshi following her husband, as is the way of the world, and now the girl's image haunts her so that her aging self can hardly bear it. The poem is celebrated for its frank expression of a mother's love for her daughter. The left note says, "The above two poems were given by Lady Sakanoue of the Ōtomo clan to her daughter Ōiratsume."
The poet, Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue, was a daughter of Ōtomo no Yasumaro and half-sister of Ōtomo no Tabito; she was Yakamochi's aunt and later his mother-in-law. She is a woman poet with many poems in the Man'yōshū.

First line, "kaku bakari" (this much), emphasizes the degree of longing.
Second line, "koishiku shi araba" (if I were to miss you so): "shi" is emphatic and "ba" hypothetical.
Third line, "masokagami" (a clear mirror), is a pillow word for seeing, leading into "minu" (not seeing) in the fourth line.
Fourth line, "minu hi toki naku" (with no day or hour unseen), means never parting even for a moment.
Fifth line, "aramashi mono o" (so I would have been): "mashi" is counterfactual and "mono o" a concessive with feeling, closing with regret.
Author: Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue
Source: Manyoshu
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