classic waka stream

相見ぬは幾久さにもあらなくに
ここだく我れは恋ひつつもあるか
Roma-ji

Aiminu wa ikuhisasa ni mo aranaku ni kokodaku are wa koitsutsu mo aru ka

English Translation
Not so very long
is it since we two last met,
not so long at all,
yet how much I go on still
longing, longing after you
Meaning
It has not been so very long since we last met, yet how much I go on longing for you.
Commentary
Book Four Love Poems 666

Headnote: "Two poems by Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue"
It has not been long since they met, yet she longs for him so much. It seems a playful reply to Abe no Mushimaro's preceding poem.
According to the left note, Lady Sakanoue's mother, Lady Ishikawa, and Mushimaro's mother, Lady Azumi, were sisters living together and close; so Lady Sakanoue and Mushimaro were not distant but talked intimately and exchanged playful poems in question and answer.
The author, Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue, was a daughter of Ōtomo no Yasumaro and half-sister of Ōtomo no Tabito. She left many poems in the Man'yōshū and is esteemed as a leading woman poet.

First line, "Not so very long," means our not meeting.
Second line, "is it since we two last met," means for however long a time.
Third line, "not so long at all," means it is not so.
Fourth line, "yet how much I go on still," means so very much, I.
Fifth line, "longing, longing after you," runs to eight syllables: how I go on longing!
Author
Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue
Source
Manyoshu
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