Waga seko o kouru mo kurushi itoma araba hiroite yukamu koiwasuregai - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

我が背子を恋ふるも苦し暇あらば
拾ひて行かむ恋忘れ貝

Roma-ji: Waga seko o kouru mo kurushi itoma araba hiroite yukamu koiwasuregai
English Translation: Longing for my love,
even this is hard to bear;
if I had the time,
I'd gather as I go along
the shells that make one forget.
Meaning: Even longing for my dear one is painful. If only I had the time, I would pick up and take with me the shells said to make one forget love.
Commentary: Book Nineteen Miscellaneous Love Poems 1245

Headnote: "On a journey, seeing shells along the shore"
The poet says that even longing for her dear one is painful, and if she had time she would gather the shells of love-forgetting as she went. The headnote shows it was composed on a journey on seeing shells on the shore. Seeing the shells said to make one forget the pain of love when picked up, she sings of the ache of longing for one far away: on the road there is no time to stop, yet she would gather them, if only to forget.
The author, Ōtomo no Sakanoue no Iratsume, was a daughter of Ōtomo no Yasumaro and a half-sister of Ōtomo no Tabito and aunt of Yakamochi, and is one of the foremost women poets of the Man'yōshū.
A similar poem appears in Book Six of the Man'yōshū as a poem composed on the way up to the capital from Dazaifu, with the first two lines "waga seko ni koureba kurushi."

First line, "waga seko o," means "my dear one," with "seko" a word a woman uses fondly for her husband or lover.
Second line, "kouru mo kurushi," means "even longing is painful," and the poem breaks after this second line.
Third line, "itoma araba," means "if I had the time," with "ba" after the irrealis form expressing supposition, implying she has none on the road.
Fourth line, "hiroite yukamu," means "I would gather them as I go," with "mu" an auxiliary of intention.
Final line, "koiwasuregai," means "the shells that make one forget love," ending on a noun.
Author: Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue
Source: Shui Wakashu
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