Ōmiji no toko no yama naru isayagawa ke no korogoro wa koitsutsu mo aramu

近江道の鳥篭の山なる不知哉川
日のころごろは恋ひつつもあらむ

Roma-ji: Ōmiji no toko no yama naru isayagawa ke no korogoro wa koitsutsu mo aramu
English Translation: On the Ōmi road,
by the hill of Toko flows
Isaya River;
through these many days of late
I will go on in longing
Meaning: Like the Isaya River flowing by Mount Toko on the Ōmi road, whose very name says "who can tell," I cannot know what lies ahead, but through these days of late I will go on longing.
Commentary: Book Four Love Poems 487

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Envoy"
This is the second envoy attached to the long poem (485). It names the Isaya River flowing by Mount Toko on the Ōmi road and borrows the sound of its name, isa, "who can tell," to sing of days of longing with no end in sight. Where the preceding poem voiced loneliness at the sight of the flock before her eyes, this one entrusts the heart to a far-off place name in Ōmi and widens the view to a stretch of time spent in longing.
The left note observes that there were two emperors of an Okamoto Palace, the one at Takechi and the later one, so it is unclear who "the Okamoto Emperor" is.
The author, the Okamoto Emperor, is a sovereign who held court at the Okamoto Palace in Asuka; it may be Emperor Jomei or Empress Kōgyoku (Saimei), and there is no settled view. Because the poem speaks from a woman's standpoint, many favor Empress Kōgyoku (Saimei).

First line, "On the Ōmi road," means the road leading to Ōmi or its routes, a land far from Yamato, suggesting a distance longing cannot cross.
Second line, "by the hill of Toko flows," names Mount Toko, thought to have stood in Inukami District of Ōmi; naru is a contraction of ni aru, "which is at."
Third line, "Isaya River," is the stream flowing by Mount Toko, sometimes identified with today's Seri River. Its name echoes isa, "who can say," and the first three lines form a preface introducing a future that cannot be known.
Fourth line, "through these many days of late," reads the character for day as ke, meaning a span of days; like "the long days" in 484 at the head of this book, it measures the length of waiting.
Fifth line, "I will go on in longing," uses tsutsu for continuation and mu for intention, closing with a resolve to accept the pain and keep on longing.
Author: The Okamoto Emperor
Source: Manyoshu
Prev Poem: Yama no ha ni ajimura sawaki yuku naredo ware wa sabushie kimi ni shi araneba
Next Poem: Kimi matsu to waga koioreba waga yado no sudare ugokashi aki no kaze fuku