Kawakami no tsuratsura tsubaki tsuratsura ni miredomo akazu kose no haruno wa

川上のつらつら椿つらつらに
見れども飽かず巨勢の春野は

Roma-ji: Kawakami no tsuratsura tsubaki tsuratsura ni miredomo akazu kose no haruno wa
English Translation: By the riverside
camellias stand row on row;
row on row I gaze,
yet I never tire of them—
Kose's fields in time of spring.
Meaning: The camellias ranged row upon row along the river—however intently I gaze, I never tire of them, these spring fields of Kose.
Commentary: Book One Miscellaneous Poems 56

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Poems from the journey of the Retired Empress to Kii Province in the ninth month of autumn, in the first year of Taihō, kanoto-ushi — a poem from another text"
A poem declaring that one never tires of gazing at the camellias lining the river—the spring fields of Kose. It shares its second and third lines with poem 54 of this book and is placed beside it as "a poem from another text." Where poem 54 pictures the spring fields during an autumn journey, this poem admires the fields actually in bloom, and it is thought to have originally been a spring composition. The left note names the author as Kasuga no Kurabito Oyu.
Kasuga no Oyu was originally a monk named Benki, but in 701, the first year of Taihō, he returned to lay life by court order and was granted the name Kasuga no Kurabito Oyu. He was later given the junior fifth rank, lower grade, and his Chinese poems appear in the Kaifūsō.

The first line, "by the river," replaces the "Mount Kose" of poem 54 in this book, setting the camellias on the riverbank.
The second line, "camellias row on row," is the same as in poem 54.
The third line, "intently," is likewise shared. Echoing the sound of the second line, it links the rows of camellias with the lingering gaze.
The fourth line, "yet I never tire of them," is followed by a pause. Admiring blossoms actually seen, it contrasts with poem 54, which pictures them in the mind.
The last line, "the spring fields of Kose," names the object of admiration at the end through inversion. It differs from the last line of poem 54 by a single particle.
Author: Kasuga no Oyu
Source: Manyoshu
Prev Poem: Asamoyoshi kihito tomoshi mo matsuchiyama yukiku to miramu kihito tomoshi mo
Next Poem: Hikumano ni niou harihara irimidare koromo niowase tabi no shirushi ni