Yukusa ni wa futari waga mishi kono saki o hitori sugureba kokoro kanashi mo

行くさにはふたり我が見しこの崎を
ひとり過ぐれば心悲しも

Roma-ji: Yukusa ni wa futari waga mishi kono saki o hitori sugureba kokoro kanashi mo
English Translation: On the outward way
the two of us looked upon
this cape together—
now that I pass it alone,
how my heart is filled with grief!
Meaning: This cape that we two gazed upon together on the way out—passing it now alone, my heart is filled with sorrow.
Commentary: Book Three Elegies 450

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Five poems composed by the Governor-General of Dazaifu, Lord Ōtomo, when setting out for the capital in the twelfth month of winter, Tenpyō 2, the year kanoe-uma"
This is the last of the five poems composed on the way to the capital, closing the sequence. The cape he saw together with his wife on the way down to Tsukushi he now passes alone, and grieves. Setting "on the outward way" against "on my way back" of the preceding poem, and "the two of us" against "alone," it sharpens the difference between the outward and homeward journeys. The left note says these two were composed on the day of passing Cape Minume. At the end of the original text there is a note of variant, "One version says: I came without even looking back at it"; here the main text is followed.
In the twelfth month of winter in Tenpyō 2 (730), Tabito, appointed Great Counselor and traveling from Dazaifu to the capital, saw again, alone, the scenes of Tomo Bay and Cape Minume that he had seen with his late wife on the way out, and composed this sequence.
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 "On the outward way": sa is a suffix of time. It pairs with "on my way back" in the preceding poem's third line.
Second line "the two of us looked upon" means he and she saw it together.
Third line "this cape together" refers to Cape Minume.
Fourth line "now that I pass it alone" contrasts with "the two of us" in the second line.
Fifth line "how my heart is filled with grief": mo is exclamatory. The variant, "I came without even looking back at it," means he was too sad even to turn and look.
Author: Ōtomo no Tabito
Source: Manyoshu
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