Tamakushige mimuro no yama no sanakazura sa nezu wa tsui ni arikatsumashiji

玉櫛笥みむろの山のさな葛
さ寝ずはつひに有りかつましじ

Roma-ji: Tamakushige mimuro no yama no sanakazura sa nezu wa tsui ni arikatsumashiji
English Translation: Jeweled comb box—like
the sanakazura vine
on Mount Mimuro,
if we do not lie as one,
at the last I cannot live.
Meaning: Like the sanakazura vine on Mount Mimuro, if I cannot lie with you, in the end I shall not be able to go on living.
Commentary: Book Two Love Poems 94

Headnote: "A poem sent by Lord Fujiwara, the Palace Minister, in reply to Princess Kagami"
Answering Princess Kagami's poem, Kamatari replies frankly that he cannot live unless they lie together.
Against her worry about parting at dawn, he opens with the same word, tamakushige, and turns her poem back on her, a fine example of the art of exchange.
The author, Fujiwara no Kamatari, also known as Nakatomi no Kamatari, carried out the Taika Reform together with Prince Naka no Ōe. He became Palace Minister under Emperor Tenji and was granted the surname Fujiwara just before his death.
A note records a variant giving the first two lines as "tamakushige mimurotoyama no." Here the main text is followed.

The first line, "tamakushige," takes up the opening of the preceding poem as it stands; here the sound mi of the box's body is said to lead to mimuro.
The second line, "mimuro no yama no," means a mountain where the gods descend and is taken to refer to Mount Miwa or a similar peak.
The third line, "sanakazura," is the scarlet kadsura vine; the preface ends here and leads by sound to sa ne, "to lie together." The twining vine also suggests lovers entwined.
In the fourth line, "sa nezu wa tsui ni," sa is a prefix, zu wa means "if not," and tsui ni means "in the end."
In the final line, "arikatsumashiji," katsu means "to be able" and mashiji is a negative conjecture: I will surely be unable to live.
Author: Fujiwara no Kamatari
Source: Manyoshu
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