Kaku nomi shi koi ya wataramu akizuno ni tanabiku kumo no sugu to wa nashi ni

かくのみし恋ひやわたらむ秋津野に
たなびく雲の過ぐとはなしに

Roma-ji: Kaku nomi shi koi ya wataramu akizuno ni tanabiku kumo no sugu to wa nashi ni
English Translation: Only in this way
shall I go on longing still;
on Akizu's moor,
like the trailing clouds that hang,
never passing, never gone
Meaning: Shall I go on longing like this forever? Like the clouds trailing over the moor of Akizu, my longing never passes away.
Commentary: Book Four Love Poems 693

Headnote: "A poem by Ōtomo no Sukune Chimuro (unknown)"
With clouds that hang over the moor of Akizu without drifting away as its preface, he laments that he must go on longing, his love never passing. The lingering clouds stand for a longing that will not fade.
The author, Ōtomo no Chimuro, appears to have been of the Ōtomo clan, but the headnote marks him "unknown," and nothing more is recorded.

First line, "Only in this way," uses the emphatic shi: only like this.
Second line, "shall I go on longing still," uses the questioning ya: am I to go on longing? The poem breaks after this line.
Third line, "on Akizu's moor," names the moor of Akizu in Yoshino.
Fourth line, "like the trailing clouds that hang," means clouds lying in long bands; with the third line it works as a preface to the last line.
Fifth line, "never passing, never gone," means without passing away. Like "I could let pass from my thoughts" in poem 668, it overlays the passing of clouds on the passing of feeling.
Author: Ōtomo no Chimuro
Source: Manyoshu
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