Aida naku koure ni ka aramu kusamakura tabi naru kimi ga ime ni shi miyuru

間なく恋ふれにかあらむ草枕
旅なる君が夢にし見ゆる

Roma-ji: Aida naku koure ni ka aramu kusamakura tabi naru kimi ga ime ni shi miyuru
English Translation: Without any pause,
is it that I long for you;
pillowed on the grass,
you who travel far from me
appear to me in my dreams
Meaning: Is it because I long for you without a pause that you, away on your journey, appear to me in my dreams?
Commentary: Book Four Love Poems 621

Headnote: "A poem sent to her husband by the wife of Saeki no Sukune Azumahito, Secretary to the Commissioner of the Saikaidō"
A wife sent this poem to her husband, away on his travels as Secretary to the Commissioner of the Saikaidō. Is it because she longs for him without pause that he appears in her dreams? It is distinctive in finding the cause of the dream in her own longing.
The author, the wife of Saeki no Azumahito, is a woman of whom little is known. Her husband, Saeki no Azumahito, was an official appointed secretary to the Commissioner of the Saikaidō.

First line, "Without any pause," means ceaselessly.
Second line, "is it that I long for you," uses the questioning ka, closed by the attributive of mu: is it because I long for you? The poem breaks after this line.
Third line, "pillowed on the grass," is kusamakura, a pillow word for "journey."
Fourth line, "you who travel far from me," means you who are on a journey.
Fifth line, "appear to me in my dreams," ends in the attributive; it is the same line that closes poem 490 in this book.
Author: The Wife of Saeki no Azumahito
Source: Manyoshu
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