Asatsuyu no keyasuki a ga mi hitokuni ni sugikatenu kamo oya no me o hori

朝露の消やすき我が身他国に
過ぎかてぬかも親の目を欲り

Roma-ji: Asatsuyu no keyasuki a ga mi hitokuni ni sugikatenu kamo oya no me o hori
English Translation: Like the morning dew,
this body of mine soon fades,
yet in a strange land
I cannot bring myself to die,
longing for my parents' eyes
Meaning: My life is as fleeting as the morning dew, yet I cannot bring myself to die in this strange land, so much do I long to see my parents.
Commentary: Book Five Miscellaneous Poems 885

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Two poems of Ōtomo no Kimi Kumagori, composed by Senior Clerk Asada no Yasu"
The poem says that though his life is as fleeting as the morning dew, he cannot die in a strange land, so much does he long to see his parents. It conveys the poignancy of a longing to see his parents' faces that still holds him to life at death's door.
Ōtomo no Kimi Kumagori, of Mashiki District in Higo, was on his way to the capital in the sixth month of Tenpyō 3, aged eighteen, as attendant to a provincial official serving as wrestling envoy, when he fell ill and died at the Takaba post station in Saeki District, Aki. Asada no Yasu mourned his death and wrote two poems in Kumagori's voice. Following these, Yamanoue no Okura composed six poems in response, expressing Kumagori's feelings.
The poet, Asada no Yasu, descended from immigrants from Paekche; his family name was originally Tōhon, and he was later granted the name Asada no Muraji. At this time he held the post of Senior Clerk at Dazaifu, and his Chinese verse survives in the anthology Kaifūsō.

First line, "asatsuyu no": "like the morning dew," leading to "ke" (to vanish) as something that fades easily.
Second line, "keyasuki a ga mi": "my easily vanishing life," showing that death is near.
Third line, "hitokuni ni": "in another land," not his home, meaning Aki where he lies on his journey.
Fourth line, "sugikatenu kamo": "katenu" means unable, and "kamo" exclaims: I cannot die. The poem breaks here.
Fifth line, "oya no me o hori": "me" here means meeting: longing to see my parents, the reason given last by inversion.
Author: Asada no Yasu
Source: Manyoshu
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