Mukaiite miredomo akanu wagimoko ni tachiwakare yukamu tazuki shirazu mo

向ひ居て見れども飽かぬ我妹子に
立ち別れ行かむたづき知らずも

Roma-ji: Mukaiite miredomo akanu wagimoko ni tachiwakare yukamu tazuki shirazu mo
English Translation: Sitting face to face,
though I look, I never tire;
from my dearest one
how am I to rise and part,
I know not the way at all
Meaning: Sitting face to face with you, I never tire of looking; how I am to rise and leave you, I do not know.
Commentary: Book Four Love Poems 665

Headnote: "A poem by Abe no Asomi Mushimaro"
Sitting face to face with her, never tiring of the sight, he does not know how he is to leave. It frankly states how hard it is to part. Together with Lady Sakanoue's next two poems, it seems part of a playful exchange between close kin.
The author, Abe no Mushimaro, was an official of the Nara period and a cousin of Lady Sakanoue on her mother's side.

First line, "Sitting face to face," means facing each other.
Second line, "though I look, I never tire," means though I look, I am not sated.
Third line, "from my dearest one," means from my beloved.
Fourth line, "how am I to rise and part," runs to eight syllables: that I shall part and go.
Fifth line, "I know not the way at all," names tazuki, means: I know no way, with the exclamatory mo.
Author: Abe no Mushimaro
Source: Manyoshu
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