Ikaho no ya Ikaho no numa no ika ni shite koishiki hito o ima hitome mimu - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

伊香保のや伊香保の沼のいかにして
恋しき人を今ひと目見む

Roma-ji: Ikaho no ya Ikaho no numa no ika ni shite koishiki hito o ima hitome mimu
English Translation: At Ikaho, ah,
at the marsh of Ikaho—
how, by any means,
might I see the one I love
once more, if just a glimpse?
Meaning: At Ikaho, at Ikaho Marsh—how, somehow, might I see the one I love once more, even for a single glance?
Commentary: Book Fourteen Love Poems IV 859

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
Repeating the name of Ikaho Marsh and drawing from its sound "ika ni shite," somehow, the poem prays to see the beloved just once more. The plain music of a sound repeated three times overflows with an urgent longing to meet.
Ikaho is a place in Kōzuke Province often sung in the eastern songs of Book Fourteen of the Man'yōshū. The repetition of the place-name also carries the flavor of a folk song of the eastern provinces.

First line, "Ikaho no ya," means "of Ikaho," with "ya" an interjectory particle setting the rhythm.
Second line, "Ikaho no numa no," means "of the marsh at Ikaho," repeating the place-name of the first line to raise the music. The first two lines form a preface leading by sound to "ika ni."
Third line, "ika ni shite," means "somehow." The same sound is repeated three times: "ikaho," "ikaho," "ika ni."
Fourth line, "koishiki hito o," means "the one I long for."
Final line, "ima hitome mimu," means "to see once more," with "mu" an auxiliary of intention and wish.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
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