Sayonaka ni tomo yobu chidori mono mou to wabioru toki ni nakitsutsu motona

さ夜中に友呼ぶ千鳥物思ふと
わびをる時に鳴きつつもとな

Roma-ji: Sayonaka ni tomo yobu chidori mono mou to wabioru toki ni nakitsutsu motona
English Translation: In the dead of night,
calling for its mate, a plover;
while in brooding thought
I sit here in misery,
on it cries, and cries in vain
Meaning: In the middle of the night a plover calls for its companion, crying on and on for no reason, just when I sit brooding in misery.
Commentary: Book Four Love Poems 618

Headnote: "A poem sent by Ōmiwa no Iratsume to Ōtomo no Sukune Yakamochi"
At midnight a plover calls for its companion, crying on and on for no reason just when the poet sits troubled by love. She overlays on the plover calling its mate her own heart calling for her lover.
The author, Ōmiwa no Iratsume, was a woman of the Ōmiwa clan of whom little is known.

First line, "In the dead of night," uses the prefix sa: in the middle of the night.
Second line, "calling for its mate, a plover," names a plover calling its companions, a cry that echoes her own longing for her lover.
Third line, "while in brooding thought," means as I brood.
Fourth line, "I sit here in misery," uses wabu, "to be distressed": when I sit in misery.
Fifth line, "on it cries, and cries in vain," uses motona, "for no reason, helplessly": it keeps on crying. The poem trails off unfinished, leaving a lingering note.
Author: Ōmiwa no Iratsume
Source: Manyoshu
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