Ko mo yo
mi ko mochi
fukushi mo yo
fukushi mochi
kono woka ni
na tsumasu ko—
Read almost directly backwards, we get:—
Ko (maid) tsumasu ([who] plucks) na (salads) ni (on) kono woka (this knoll), mochi (holding) fukushi (truel), yo mo (oh the) fukushi (truel), mochi (holding) mi ko (fair basket), mo yo (oh the) ko (basket).
Maid who pluckest salads on this knoll holding a truel—oh the truel!—holding a fair basket—oh the basket!… a wo se to norame, me for thy husband name!
But even rendered almost in Japanese order, the lay is quite intelligible, and perhaps better to be appreciated than in any imitative version:—