Michi ni aite emashishi kara ni furu yuki no kenaba kenu gani kou to iu wagimo

道に逢ひて笑まししからに降る雪の
消なば消ぬがに恋ふといふ我妹

Roma-ji: Michi ni aite emashishi kara ni furu yuki no kenaba kenu gani kou to iu wagimo
English Translation: Meeting on the road,
from a single smile alone,
like the falling snow,
fit to melt away, they say,
my dear one longs so for me
Meaning: Just from meeting me on the road and smiling, they say, my beloved longs for me so that she might melt away like falling snow.
Commentary: Book Four Love Poems 624

Headnote: "A poem composed by the emperor thinking of Princess Sakahito; the princess was a granddaughter of Prince Hozumi"
Emperor Shōmu composed this poem thinking of Princess Sakahito. Merely from meeting on the road and smiling, she longs for him, they say, so that she might melt away like falling snow, and he is moved by her devotion. The poem is considered difficult, and interpretations differ as to who smiled at whom.
The author, Emperor Shōmu, reigned in the Nara period and was a son of Emperor Monmu. A devout patron of Buddhism, he vowed the building of the Great Buddha of Tōdaiji. Princess Sakahito was, according to the headnote's note, a granddaughter of Prince Hozumi.

First line, "Meeting on the road," runs to six syllables.
Second line, "from a single smile alone," uses emasu, honorific of emu, "to smile," and kara ni, "just from": just because of a smile. Who smiled is disputed.
Third line, "like the falling snow," uses snow, quick to melt, to lead to ke, "melt," in the fourth line.
Fourth line, "fit to melt away, they say," means so that she might vanish if vanish she must, a figure for one fading away with love.
Fifth line, "my dear one longs so for me," means my beloved who, they say, longs for me, ending on a noun.
Author: Emperor Shōmu
Source: Manyoshu
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