Tsune yamazu kayoishi kimi ga tsukai kozu ima wa awaji to tayutainu rashi

常やまず通ひし君が使ひ来ず
今は逢はじとたゆたひぬらし

Roma-ji: Tsune yamazu kayoishi kimi ga tsukai kozu ima wa awaji to tayutainu rashi
English Translation: Never ceasing once,
your messengers came and went;
now they come no more;
"I will not meet her now," you say,
wavering, so it would seem
Meaning: Your messengers, who once came to me without fail, come no more; it seems your heart has wavered, thinking you will not meet me now.
Commentary: Book Four Love Poems 542

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Six poems sent by Princess Takata to Prince Imaki"
The messengers who once came without fail have stopped, and the poet laments that his heart seems to have wavered toward not meeting her again. Placed last of the six, it closes the sequence on a lonely note that foreshadows parting. Answering the first poem's lament over his clean-cut words of farewell, the six together trace the swaying course of a love.
The author, Princess Takata, is thought to be a daughter of Prince Takayasu. The recipient, Prince Imaki, was the son of Ōtomo no Iratsume and was later granted the surname Ōhara no Mahito.

First line, "Never ceasing once," means always, without a break, recalling his former eager visits.
Second line, "your messengers came and went," uses shi, the attributive of the past ki: you who used to come.
Third line, "now they come no more," means your messenger does not come; the poem breaks after this line.
Fourth line, "'I will not meet her now,' you say," uses ji, negative intention: now I will not meet her.
Fifth line, "wavering, so it would seem," uses tayutau, "to waver, hesitate," and rashi, an inference with grounds: it seems your heart has faltered.
Author: Princess Takata
Source: Manyoshu
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