Itsushika to matsuramu imo ni tamazusa no koto dani tsugezu inishi kimi kamo

いつしかと待つらむ妹に玉梓の
言だに告げず去にし君かも

Roma-ji: Itsushika to matsuramu imo ni tamazusa no koto dani tsugezu inishi kimi kamo
English Translation: Waiting, "When, oh when?"
for your wife who waits for you,
like a messenger,
not a single word you sent—
you have gone away from us.
Meaning: To your wife, who must be waiting and wondering when you will come, you sent not even a word—and you are gone.
Commentary: Book Three Elegies 445

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "A poem with tanka composed by the Inspector Ōtomo no Sukune Minaka when Hasetsukabe no Tatsumaro, a clerk of the rice-field allotment office of Settsu, hanged himself in Tenpyō 1, the year tsuchinoto-mi" — "Envoy"
This is the second envoy to the long poem mourning Hasetsukabe no Tatsumaro. He died without sending even a word to the wife at home who must be waiting for his return—the poet grieves for the dead while thinking of the wife left behind. Where the preceding poem lamented the suddenness of death, this one turns to the family left behind.
The poet, Ōtomo no Minaka, was a Nara-period official who served as Inspector in the rice-field allotment office of Settsu and was later appointed Vice-Envoy to Silla, among other posts.

First line "Waiting, 'When, oh when?'": itsushika to means "soon, soon."
Second line "for your wife who waits for you": ramu is present conjecture.
Third line "like a messenger": tamazusa means a messenger or letter, used here to lead to koto, "word."
Fourth line "not a single word you sent": dani means "even."
Fifth line "you have gone away from us": inu means to go away, and kamo expresses sorrow.
Author: Ōtomo no Minaka
Source: Manyoshu
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