Yamatoji wa kumogakuritari shikaredomo waga furu sode o nameshi tomou na

大和道は雲隠りたりしかれども
我が振る袖をなめしと思ふな

Roma-ji: Yamatoji wa kumogakuritari shikaredomo waga furu sode o nameshi tomou na
English Translation: The road to Yamato
is hidden now in the clouds—
and yet, even so,
these sleeves of mine that I wave,
do not think them insolent
Meaning: The road to Yamato lies hidden in the clouds. And yet, please do not think it insolent of me to wave my sleeves to you.
Commentary: Book Six Miscellaneous Poems 966

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Two poems composed by a young woman when Lord Ōtomo, Governor-General of the Dazaifu, went up to the capital in the twelfth month of winter"
The road to Yamato is so far that it vanishes into the clouds, yet the speaker begs that the sleeves she waves in farewell not be thought insolent. When Ōtomo no Tabito, Governor-General of the Dazaifu, was appointed Major Counselor and went up to the capital in the twelfth month of Tenpyō 2 (730), a young woman seeing him off composed two poems, and this is the second. In the preceding poem, 965, she held back the sleeves she longed to wave, in awe of the gap in rank between them; here she can hold back no longer and waves them, speaking as one who asks pardon for a breach of manners.
According to the left note, Tabito set out for the capital as Major Counselor while still holding the post of Governor-General, and on this day he halted his horse at the Mizuki embankment and looked back toward the Dazaifu. Among the officials who saw him off was a wandering entertainer named Kojima, who, grieving that parting is easy and meeting again is hard, wiped her tears and recited this poem of waving sleeves. The movement of the pair, from hesitation in "the sleeves I long to wave, I hold back" to action in "these sleeves of mine that I wave," is its great attraction.
The poet, Kojima, was a wandering entertainer who attended the banquets of officials at the Dazaifu; the left note says that "her name was Kojima." Nothing more is known of her, but she is remembered through these two poems of parting from Tabito.

The next poem, 967, is Tabito's reply: it takes up this poem's opening "The road to Yamato" and plays on the woman's name Kojima through the island of Kojima in Kibi, so that the two form a pair of exchange poems. Against the preceding poem's "the sleeves I long to wave, I hold back," this poem shows her finally waving the sleeves she had restrained.
The first line, "The road to Yamato," refers to the road leading from the Dazaifu to Yamato. The particle "wa" singles it out, pointing to the long journey Tabito is about to make.
The second line, "is hidden now in the clouds," means that the road cannot be seen for the clouds, expressing how far away Yamato lies. "-tari" is an auxiliary of continuing state, and the sense breaks here, after the second line.
The third line, "and yet, even so," means "though that is so," taking up the situation of the first two lines and turning to the plea of the closing lines.
The fourth line, "these sleeves of mine that I wave," refers to the sleeves waved at parting. Waving the sleeves was a gesture of regret at parting and was thought to call the other person's spirit near. The sleeves she "held back" in the preceding poem are here actually waved.
The final line, "do not think them insolent," means "please do not think it rude." "Nameshi" is an adjective meaning rude, and "na" is a final particle of prohibition. While apologizing for waving her sleeves at a man of high rank, she conveys feelings of parting that she cannot suppress. In the kana reading, "to omou" is contracted to "tomou."
Author: Kojima
Source: Manyoshu
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