Asukagawa kawayodo sarazu tatsu kiri no omoisugubeki koi ni aranaku ni

明日香川川淀さらず立つ霧の
思ひ過ぐべき恋にあらなくに

Roma-ji: Asukagawa kawayodo sarazu tatsu kiri no omoisugubeki koi ni aranaku ni
English Translation: The Asuka River—
ever on its quiet pools
the mist hangs rising;
yet not a love that fades away
as that mist will pass is this.
Meaning: Like the mist that always rises over the still pools of the Asuka River—yet this longing is not one that will pass away and be forgotten.
Commentary: Book Three Miscellaneous Poems 325

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "A poem with tanka composed by Yamabe no Sukune Akahito on climbing Mount Kamioka" — "Envoy"
This is the envoy to a long poem composed on climbing Mount Kamioka and gazing over the old capital of Asuka. The mist that always rises over the pools of the Asuka River will one day clear, but his love for the old capital is not something that will pass away—an expression of deep longing for the past. The first three lines form a preface leading to "pass away" through the fleetingness of mist. Poem 422 in this book likewise uses the phrase "not one whom I could forget" to voice an unforgettable love.
The poet, Yamabe no Akahito, was a court poet of the reign of Shōmu who composed many poems on royal excursions and excelled in clear, limpid landscape verse. Later ages ranked him with Kakinomoto no Hitomaro as a "Saint of Poetry."

First line "The Asuka River" flows through the old capital of Asuka.
Second line "ever on its quiet pools": kawayodo is where the water lies still, and sarazu means never leaving, always.
Third line "the mist hangs rising": up to here is a preface leading to omoisugu in the fourth line.
Fourth line "a love that fades away": omoisugu means for a feeling to pass and be forgotten, and beki expresses what is to be expected.
Fifth line "is this": koi here is longing for the old capital. Nakuni ends with a sigh—"it is no feeling that would fade."
Author: Yamabe no Akahito
Source: Manyoshu
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