Takakura no Mikasa no yama ni naku tori no yameba tsugaruru koi mo suru kamo

高座の御笠の山に鳴く鳥の
止めば継がるる恋もするかも

Roma-ji: Takakura no Mikasa no yama ni naku tori no yameba tsugaruru koi mo suru kamo
English Translation: Takakura's peak,
on the mountain of Mikasa
birds are crying out—
when they stop, they start again;
such a love is mine as well.
Meaning: Like the cries of the birds on Mount Mikasa, which break off only to begin again, such is the love that I now feel.
Commentary: Book Three Miscellaneous Poems 373

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "A poem with tanka composed by Yamabe no Sukune Akahito on climbing Kasuga Plain" — "Envoy"
This is the envoy to a long poem composed on climbing Kasuga Plain. As the birds' cries on Mount Mikasa break off and then resume, so his love goes on without end—the ache of unrequited love. The first three lines are a preface leading to "when they stop, they start again," overlaying the spring mountain scene with his heart.
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 "Takakura's peak": takakura is the imperial throne, and through the canopy held over it the word becomes a pillow word for Mikasa.
Second line "on the mountain of Mikasa": Mount Mikasa at Kasuga, around today's Mount Wakakusa and Mount Mikasa in Nara.
Third line "birds are crying out": up to here is the preface to the fourth line.
Fourth line "when they stop, they start again" turns the birds' voices into a love that continues.
Fifth line "such a love is mine as well": kamo expresses feeling.
Author: Yamabe no Akahito
Source: Manyoshu
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