Ōtomo no mitsu no hama naru wasuregai ie naru imo o wasurete omoe ya

大伴の御津の浜なる忘れ貝
家なる妹を忘れて思へや

Roma-ji: Ōtomo no mitsu no hama naru wasuregai ie naru imo o wasurete omoe ya
English Translation: On Mitsu's shore
in Ōtomo, there are found
the "forgetting shells"—
but my wife who waits at home,
could I ever forget her?
Meaning: There on the shore of Mitsu in Ōtomo lie the "forgetting shells"—but could I ever forget my wife waiting at home? Never.
Commentary: Book One Miscellaneous Poems 68

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Poems from the journey of the Retired Empress to the Naniwa Palace"
Taking up the name of the "forgetting shells" seen on the shore of Mitsu, the poet declares that he could never forget his wife at home as the name suggests. The first three lines form a preface leading to "forget," and through a shoreline object he expresses his unchanging love for his wife. The left note names the author as Prince Mutobe.
Prince Mutobe, whose name is also written with other characters, was a member of the imperial family. According to the Shoku Nihongi, he died in 729, the first year of Tenpyō, holding the senior fourth rank, upper grade.

The first line, Ōtomo no, is an old name for the Naniwa area, qualifying Mitsu. It is the same word as the third line of poem 63 in this book.
In the second line, naru is the attributive of the auxiliary of existence: "that lie on the shore of Mitsu." It sings of the same place as "the shore pines of Mitsu" in poem 63.
The third line, wasuregai, is a single stray valve of a bivalve shell, believed to make one forget the pangs of love if picked up. The first three lines form a preface leading to "forget."
The fourth line, "my wife who is at home," repeats the naru of the second line to set the two in correspondence. Poem 6 in this book also has "my wife who is at home," and the two echo each other as poems of a traveler thinking of his wife.
In the last line, ya is rhetorical: "could I forget her? Never." Taking up the name of the shell in the third line, it declares just the opposite—he will never forget.
Author: Prince Mutobe
Source: Manyoshu
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