Umiyama mo hedataranaku ni nani shi ka mo megoto o dani mo kokoda tomoshiki

海山も隔たらなくに何しかも
目言をだにもここだ乏しき

Roma-ji: Umiyama mo hedataranaku ni nani shi ka mo megoto o dani mo kokoda tomoshiki
English Translation: Neither sea nor hills
lie between the two of us;
why then, tell me why,
even glances, even words,
are so very rare for us
Meaning: No sea or mountain lies between us, so why are even glances and words exchanged face to face so rare?
Commentary: Book Four Love Poems 689

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Seven poems by Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue"
In the last of the seven, she laments that though no sea or mountain divides them, even looks and words exchanged face to face are so rare. Like Lady Kasa's poem 601, "no mountain, no stream lies between us," it expresses the grief of being near yet unable to meet.
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, "Neither sea nor hills," names seas and mountains.
Second line, "lie between the two of us," means though they do not separate us, the same as the fourth line of poem 601.
Third line, "why then, tell me why," asks why, ka being closed by the attributive in the fifth line.
Fourth line, "even glances, even words," names megoto, meeting eyes and exchanging words: even that.
Fifth line, "are so very rare for us," means so scarce, ending in the attributive.
Author: Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue
Source: Manyoshu
Prev Poem: Aoyama o yokogiru kumo no ichishiroku ware to emashite hito ni shirayu na
Next Poem: Teru tsuki o yami ni minashite naku namida koromo nurashitsu hosu hito nashi ni