Shiratori no tobayama matsu no machitsutsu zo aga koiwataru kono tsukigoro o

白鳥の飛羽山松の待ちつつぞ
我が恋ひわたるこの月ごろを

Roma-ji: Shiratori no tobayama matsu no machitsutsu zo aga koiwataru kono tsukigoro o
English Translation: Where white birds take flight,
on Mount Toba stand the pines,
waiting, as they're named,
so I go on in longing
through these many months of late
Meaning: Like the pines on Mount Toba, where white birds fly, I wait for you, longing on and on through these many months.
Commentary: Book Four Love Poems 588

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Twenty-four poems sent by Lady Kasa to Ōtomo no Sukune Yakamochi"
Playing on matsu, "pine" and "wait," with the pines of Mount Toba, she says she has gone on longing for many months, waiting for him. Place name and pine are deftly combined to convey the length of her days of waiting. The theme of waiting that runs from the opening of this book is sung here once more.
The author, Lady Kasa, was a woman poet of the Nara period who sent many love poems to Ōtomo no Yakamochi. Little else is known of her.

First line, "Where white birds take flight," is a pillow word for Toba, from tobu, "to fly," since white birds fly.
Second line, "on Mount Toba stand the pines," names the pines of Mount Toba, thought to have been in the Nara area; matsu leads to machi, "waiting," and with the first line forms a preface.
Third line, "waiting, as they're named," uses zo for emphasis, closed by wataru in the fourth line.
Fourth line, "so I go on in longing," uses wataru, "to go on through time": I keep on longing.
Fifth line, "through these many months of late," gives by inversion the span of her longing.
Author: Lady Kasa
Source: Manyoshu
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