Ie ni yukite ika ni ka a ga semu makurazuku tsumaya sabushiku omōyu beshi mo

家に行きていかにか我がせむ枕付く
妻屋寂しく思ほゆべしも

Roma-ji: Ie ni yukite ika ni ka a ga semu makurazuku tsumaya sabushiku omōyu beshi mo
English Translation: Going to my house,
what then am I to do there?
Where pillows were laid,
the chamber I shared with her
will surely seem so lonely
Meaning: When I go home, what am I to do? The room where we laid our pillows side by side will surely feel so lonely.
Commentary: Book Five Miscellaneous Poems 795

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "An elegy in Japanese: envoy"
The poet imagines returning to a house without his late wife, not knowing what to do, and how lonely the chamber they shared will feel. The depth of the loss shows in the way he mourns in advance the loneliness awaiting him before he has even gone home.
This is the first of five envoys attached to the "Elegy in Japanese." The elegy is preceded by a Chinese preface and Chinese poem that cite Buddhist scripture at length on the impermanence of all living things and the grief of losing a wife; the long poem is called an "Elegy in Japanese" as the native-language counterpart to them. The left note says it was presented by Yamanoue no Okura, Governor of Chikuzen, on the twenty-first day of the seventh month of Jinki 5, and it is generally held that Okura composed it in the voice of Ōtomo no Tabito, Governor-General of Dazaifu, mourning the death of Tabito's wife.
The poet, Yamanoue no Okura, was an official who went to Tang China as a junior secretary with the embassy appointed in Taihō 1. After his return he served as Governor of Hōki and in the household of the Crown Prince, and late in the Jinki era he was posted to Tsukushi as Governor of Chikuzen. He is known for poems rooted in everyday life, on the sufferings of human existence, love for family, and poverty, written against a background of learning in Chinese classics and Buddhist scripture.

First line, "ie ni yukite": the husband who lost his wife in Tsukushi returning to his dwelling. The line has six syllables, one more than the norm.
Second line, "ika ni ka a ga semu": the particle "ka" is resolved by "semu," expressing his bewilderment at what to do. The poem breaks after this line.
Third line, "makurazuku": a pillow word for "tsumaya," carrying the sense of laying pillows side by side.
Fourth line, "tsumaya sabushiku": the "tsumaya" is the chamber a couple shares, chosen as the place where her absence will hurt most.
Fifth line, "omōyu beshi mo": "beshi" conjectures and "mo" exclaims; the poem ends foreseeing that it will surely feel lonely, anticipating grief before he even arrives.
Author: Yamanoue no Okura
Source: Manyoshu
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