Ika ni aramu hi no toki ni kamo koe shiramu hito no hiza no e wa ga makurakamu

いかにあらむ日の時にかも声知らむ
人の膝の上我が枕かむ

Roma-ji: Ika ni aramu hi no toki ni kamo koe shiramu hito no hiza no e wa ga makurakamu
English Translation: On what kind of day,
and at what hour could it be,
one who knows my voice
will let me lay my head
upon the pillow of his knee?
Meaning: On what day, at what hour, will I rest my head on the knee of someone who truly understands my voice?
Commentary: Book Five Miscellaneous Poems 810

Headnote: "Respectfully submitted by Ōtomo no Tanto: one Japanese zither of paulownia, from a young branch on Mount Yuishi in Tsushima"
The zither maiden wonders when she might lay her head on the knee of one who knows her voice. Playing a zither across one's knees is likened to pillowing on a knee, expressing the wish to meet a true understander. "One who knows my voice" alludes to the Chinese tale of Bo Ya and Zhong Ziqi, the friend who truly understood his music.
According to the headnote, this is a letter Ōtomo no Tabito sent to Fujiwara no Fusasaki in the capital with a Japanese zither made from a young branch of a paulownia on Mount Yuishi in Tsushima. "Tanto" is Tabito's name written in Chinese fashion. The zither appeared in a dream as a maiden and said that she had rooted on a high peak of a distant island and long roamed the hills and streams in the sunlight, but feared rotting away in a ravine after a hundred years; then she met a fine craftsman and became a small zither, and though her tone was poor she hoped always to be kept beside a gentleman.
The poet, Ōtomo no Tabito, was the son of the Major Counselor Ōtomo no Yasumaro and the father of Ōtomo no Yakamochi. Late in the Jinki era he went down to Tsukushi as Governor-General of Dazaifu, returned to the capital in Tenpyō 2 as Major Counselor, and died the following year. Versed in Chinese letters and Daoist thought, he formed a literary circle at Dazaifu with Yamanoue no Okura and others, known as the Tsukushi poetic circle.

First line, "ika ni aramu": "of what kind will it be," looking toward an uncertain future.
Second line, "hi no toki ni kamo": "kamo" poses a question: on what day, at what hour?
Third line, "koe shiramu": one who truly understands the zither's sound, alluding to the tale of the friend who knew the music.
Fourth line, "hito no hiza no e": the knee of the player, across which the zither is laid.
Fifth line, "wa ga makurakamu": "makuraku" means to pillow one's head, and "mu" completes the question begun by "kamo." Through personification, the zither's resting on a knee expresses the wish to be played by one who understands.
Author: Ōtomo no Tabito
Source: Manyoshu
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