Hayakawa no se ni iru tori no yoshi o nami omoite arishi aga ko wa mo aware

早川の瀬に居る鳥のよしをなみ
思ひてありし我が子はもあはれ

Roma-ji: Hayakawa no se ni iru tori no yoshi o nami omoite arishi aga ko wa mo aware
English Translation: In the swift stream's shoals
like a bird that finds no hold,
lacking any stay,
you who sat in brooding thought,
O my child, my dearest child
Meaning: Like a bird in the shoals of a swift river with nothing to hold on to, you sat brooding with no one to turn to, my child, my poor dear child.
Commentary: Book Four Love Poems 761

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Two poems sent by Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue from the Taketa estate to her daughter"
In the second poem, like a bird in the shoals of a swift river with nothing to hold on to, her daughter sat brooding with no one to rely on, and the mother feels for her deeply. It is full of tender love for a daughter left lonely away from her mother.
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, "In the swift stream's shoals," means a fast-flowing river.
Second line, "like a bird that finds no hold," names a bird resting in the shoals; with the first line it forms a preface.
Third line, "lacking any stay," uses o ... mi: because there is nothing to lean on.
Fourth line, "you who sat in brooding thought," means who was sunk in thought.
Fifth line, "O my child, my dearest child," runs to eight syllables: my child, alas.
Author: Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue
Source: Manyoshu
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