Kawaguchi no nobe ni iorite yo no fureba imo ga tamoto shi omōyuru kamo

河口の野辺に廬りて夜の経れば
妹が手本し思ほゆるかも

Roma-ji: Kawaguchi no nobe ni iorite yo no fureba imo ga tamoto shi omōyuru kamo
English Translation: At Kawaguchi
lodging in the open fields
as the nights go by,
the sleeves of my beloved
come to my mind, how they come
Meaning: Lodging in the fields of Kawaguchi as night follows night, how I find myself thinking of my beloved's sleeves.
Commentary: Book Six Miscellaneous Poems 1029

Headnote: "A poem composed by the Palace Guard Ōtomo no Sukune Yakamochi at the temporary palace of Kawaguchi, when the Emperor made a progress to the province of Ise in the tenth month of winter in the twelfth year, kanoe-tatsu, as the Junior Assistant Governor-General of Dazaifu, Fujiwara no Asomi Hirotsugu, had rebelled and raised an army"
This poem longs for the wife left at home: lodging in the fields of Kawaguchi as night follows night, the poet cannot help thinking of his beloved's arms. According to the headnote, in the tenth month of winter in Tenpyō 12 (740), when Fujiwara no Hirotsugu, Junior Assistant Governor-General of Dazaifu, raised a rebellion in Kyushu, Emperor Shōmu made a progress to the province of Ise, and Ōtomo no Yakamochi, who accompanied him as a Palace Guard, composed this poem at the temporary palace of Kawaguchi.
This progress went from Ise through Mino and Ōmi to Kuni in Yamashiro, and the poems composed at each temporary palace along the way are arranged in sequence in this book. The temporary palace of Kawaguchi is thought to have stood near Kawaguchi in Hakusan, in present-day Tsu City, Mie Prefecture. The poem shows the simple, homesick feelings of the young Yakamochi as he continued the journey as a guard close to the Emperor.
The poet, Ōtomo no Yakamochi, was the son of Ōtomo no Tabito and at this time served as a Palace Guard in attendance on the Emperor. He later held posts such as governor of Etchū and rose to Middle Counselor. He is a poet thought to have been deeply involved in the compilation of the Man'yōshū.

From this poem through 1036, poems from the same progress are arranged by temporary palace. Emperor Shōmu's poem in the next poem, 1030, begins "Longing for my beloved," and it resonates with this poem's "the sleeves of my beloved," both expressing longing for wives left behind in the capital.
The first line, "At Kawaguchi," names the place in Ise where the temporary palace of the headnote stood.
The second line, "lodging in the open fields," describes the attendants sheltering in makeshift huts around the temporary palace on the journey.
In the third line, "as the nights go by," "-ba" marks an established condition. Not one night but many pass, and homesickness grows with them.
In the fourth line, "the sleeves of my beloved," "tamoto" means the cuff of the sleeve or the arm offered as a pillow, and "shi" is an emphatic particle. The poet pictures his wife's arms and sleeves as they slept together.
The final line, "come to my mind, how they come," ends with the exclamatory particle "kamo," closing the poem with a frank exclamation of how irresistibly his wife comes to mind.
Author: Otomo no Yakamochi
Source: Manyoshu
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