classic waka stream

春日野の山辺の道をよそりなく
通ひし君が見えぬころかも
Roma-ji

Kasugano no yamabe no michi o yosori naku kayoishi kimi ga mienu koro kamo

English Translation
Kasuga's broad plain,
on the path along the hills,
with no other thought
you would come to me, my lord;
now of late you never show
Meaning
You who used to come to me along the path by the hills of Kasuga plain, your heart turned toward no one else, no longer show yourself these days.
Commentary
Book Four Love Poems 518

Headnote: "A poem by Ishikawa no Iratsume, that is, the lady of the Ōtomo house at Saho"
The poet laments that her husband, who used to come faithfully along the path by the hills of Kasuga plain, has stopped visiting. According to the headnote's note, she was the mistress of the Ōtomo household at Saho, that is, the wife of Ōtomo no Yasumaro. Placed beside Yasumaro's poem, it can be read as one of a pair by husband and wife.
The author, Ishikawa no Iratsume, was the wife of Ōtomo no Yasumaro and is thought to be the same person as Lady Ishikawa, mother of Lady Sakanoue. Ōtoji is a respectful term for the mistress of a household.

First line, "Kasuga's broad plain," names the plain spreading east of the capital at Nara, where her husband's path lay.
Second line, "on the path along the hills," means the road skirting the foot of the hills, calling up the way he used to come.
Third line, "with no other thought," is taken to mean without turning his heart elsewhere, though the word's sense is disputed.
Fourth line, "you would come to me, my lord," uses shi, the attributive of the past ki: you who used to come.
Fifth line, "now of late you never show," means these days you do not appear, with the exclamatory kamo. Setting his former devotion against his present absence, it lets loneliness seep through.
Author
Lady Ishikawa
Source
Manyoshu
Prev Poem
Kamuki ni mo te wa furu to iu o utsutae ni hitozuma to ieba furenu mono kamo
Next Poem
Amatsutsumi tsune suru kimi wa hisakata no kizo no yo no ame ni korinikemu kamo