Amabiko no otozureji to zo ima wa omou ware ka hito ka to mi o tadoru yo ni - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

あまびこのおとづれじとぞ今は思ふ
我か人かと身をたどる世に

Roma-ji: Amabiko no otozureji to zo ima wa omou ware ka hito ka to mi o tadoru yo ni
English Translation: Like the mountain echo,
no sound of visits will come,
so I think now,
in days when I grope to know
if I am myself or another.
Meaning: I have come to think that no one will visit me now, no more than an echo answers of itself, for I am so dazed these days that I hardly know whether I am myself or someone else.
Commentary: Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Poems II 963

Headnote: "Composed and sent in reply to a woman who had written to console me when I had been removed from the post of Lieutenant of the Left Inner Palace Guards"
Removed from his post as Lieutenant of the Left Inner Palace Guards, the author sent this in reply to a woman who had written to console him. He describes his dazed state after losing office and his belief that no one would come to see him, and through this quietly shows his gratitude for her letter.
"Myself or another" describes being so stunned that one hardly feels oneself. The lament of those removed from office continues in the next poems, 964, 965 and 966.
The author, "Ono no Harukaze" as written in kana, is Ono no Harukaze, son of Ono no Iwao. He was known as a military man and distinguished himself in suppressing the Gangyō Rebellion.

The first line, "like the mountain echo," refers to amabiko, an echo; because an echo returns sound, it leads to the "sound" in the second line.
The second line, "no sound of visits will come," contains the pivot word otozure, both "visit" and the "sound" of the echo. Ji expresses negative conjecture, and zo governs the attributive omou in the third line.
The third line, "so I think now," ends the upper verse; the poem breaks here, in inverted order with the lower verse.
The fourth line, "if I am myself or another," describes a dazed, bewildered state.
The last line, "in days when I grope to know," gives the reason: the poet can hardly make out his own condition.
Author: Ono no Harukaze
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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