Kasugayama kasumi tanabiki kokoroguku tereru tsukuyo ni hitori kamo nemu

春日山霞たなびき心ぐく
照れる月夜にひとりかも寝む

Roma-ji: Kasugayama kasumi tanabiki kokoroguku tereru tsukuyo ni hitori kamo nemu
English Translation: Over Kasuga's hill
trails the haze of spring, and dim,
heavy on the heart,
in the moonlight shining so,
shall I sleep alone tonight
Meaning: Haze trails over Mount Kasuga, and on this night of hazy moonlight that weighs upon my heart, must I sleep alone?
Commentary: Book Four Love Poems 735

Headnote: "A poem sent to Yakamochi by the same Elder Daughter of Sakanoue"
Haze trails over Mount Kasuga, and on this night of dim moonlight that weighs upon the heart, she wonders whether she must sleep alone. The hazy spring moonlit scene is overlaid with the loneliness of sleeping by herself.
The author, Ōtomo no Sakanoue no Ōiratsume, was the daughter of Ōtomo no Sukunamaro and Lady Sakanoue, and later became Ōtomo no Yakamochi's principal wife.

First line, "Over Kasuga's hill," names the mountain east of the capital at Nara.
Second line, "trails the haze of spring, and dim," means haze lies in long bands.
Third line, "heavy on the heart," uses kokoroguku, "oppressively, gloomily."
Fourth line, "in the moonlight shining so," means on a moonlit night.
Fifth line, "shall I sleep alone tonight," uses kamo, doubt mixed with feeling: must I sleep alone?
Author: Ōtomo no Sakanoue no Ōiratsume
Source: Manyoshu
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