classic waka stream

愛しき人のまきてし敷栲の
我が手枕をまく人あらめや
Roma-ji

Utsukushiki hito no makiteshi shikitae no waga tamakura o maku hito arame ya

English Translation
She whom I held dear
used to pillow on it once,
my arm, soft as cloth—
this arm of mine for a pillow,
will there be another now?
Meaning
My arm, on which my beloved used to rest her head—will there ever be another to pillow on it?
Commentary
Book Three Elegies 438

Headnote: "Three poems of longing for the departed by the Governor-General of Dazaifu, Lord Ōtomo, in Jinki 5, the year tsuchinoe-tatsu"
This is the first of the Governor-General Lord Ōtomo's three poems of longing for the departed. The arm on which his beloved wife rested her head—will anyone else ever pillow on it? he asks, expressing single-hearted love for his dead wife. A left note says it was composed several weeks after their parting in death.
The three poems of the Governor-General Lord Ōtomo longing for the departed form a sequence in which Tabito, who lost his wife, Lady Ōtomo, at Dazaifu in Jinki 5 (728), yearns for her.
The poet, Ōtomo no Tabito, was a son of Ōtomo no Yasumaro. He served as Middle Counselor and Governor-General of Dazaifu before rising to Great Counselor, and died in Tenpyō 3 (731). Steeped in Chinese letters, he was at the center of a poetic circle with Yamanoue no Okura and others while serving in Tsukushi.

First line "She whom I held dear": utsukushiki means beloved.
Second line "used to pillow on it once": maku means to pillow, and teshi gives completion and past.
Third line "soft as cloth" renders shikitae no, a pillow word for "pillow" and "sleeve."
Fourth line "this arm of mine for a pillow": tamakura is using one's arm as a pillow.
Fifth line "will there be another now": me is the conditional of mu and ya rhetorical, ending in devoted love for his wife.
Author
Ōtomo no Tabito
Source
Manyoshu
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