Imo ga ie mo tsugite mimashi o yamato naru ōshima no ne ni ie mo aramashi o

妹が家も継ぎて見ましを大和なる
大島の嶺に家もあらましを

Roma-ji: Imo ga ie mo tsugite mimashi o yamato naru ōshima no ne ni ie mo aramashi o
English Translation: Your house, dearest one,
I would gaze on without end—
if only I had
a house upon the summit
of Ōshima in Yamato.
Meaning: If only I could look upon your house without end! If only I had a house of my own on the peak of Ōshima in Yamato.
Commentary: Book Two Love Poems 91

Headnote: "A poem bestowed by the Emperor on Princess Kagami"
The speaker longs to look at his beloved's house at all times and wishes he had a house of his own on the peak of Ōshima. The repeated "mashi o" piles one impossible wish upon another.
A section heading reads "the reign of the Emperor who ruled from the Ōtsu Palace in Ōmi," and this is a poem Emperor Tenji sent to Princess Kagami. It suggests the distance between the capital in Ōmi and Princess Kagami in Yamato.
The author, Emperor Tenji, was a son of Emperor Jomei. As Prince Naka no Ōe he carried out the Taika Reform, and he ascended the throne at the Ōtsu Palace in Ōmi.
The text carries two notes on variants: one source gives the first two lines as "imo ga atari tsugite mo mimu ni," and another gives the last line as "ie oramashi o." Here the main text is followed.

In the first line, "imo ga ie mo," imo is a word a man uses for a woman dear to him, here Princess Kagami. The particle mo carries the sense "at least your house."
In the second line, "tsugite mimashi o," tsugite means continually, mashi is counterfactual, and o is exclamatory. It implies that in reality he cannot see it.
In the third line, "yamato naru," naru expresses location: "which is in Yamato."
The fourth line, "ōshima no ne ni," names a peak whose location is unknown; it is thought to be a hill overlooking Princess Kagami's house.
The final line, "ie mo aramashi o," closes with "mashi o" as in the second line, doubling the wish. "Your house" in the first line and "a house" in the last correspond, as though he would join the two houses.
Author: Emperor Tenji
Source: Manyoshu
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