Wagimoko ni aga koiyukeba tomoshiku mo narabi oru kamo imo to se no yama

我妹子に我が恋ひ行けば羨しくも
並び居るかも妹と背の山

Roma-ji: Wagimoko ni aga koiyukeba tomoshiku mo narabi oru kamo imo to se no yama
English Translation: Longing for my dear,
as I travel on my way,
how enviably
they stand together side by side,
the hills of Imo and Se
Meaning: As I travel on, longing for my dear wife, how enviable it is—Mount Imo and Mount Se, standing side by side.
Commentary: Book Seven Miscellaneous Poems 1210

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Composed on Journeys"
To one traveling on while longing for his wife, the sight of Mount Imo and Mount Se standing side by side is enviable. Like poem 1208, it contrasts the married mountains with the poet parted from his wife to express his longing.
It is the last of the three poems on the Imose mountains. The last line of poem 1208 in this book, "how I envy," answers the third line here, "how enviably," and the last line of the preceding poem, "Imo and Se, the mountains," is repeated here. It is regarded as coming from the Old Collection. The poet is unknown.

The first line, "Longing for my dear," means "for my beloved wife."
The second line, "as I travel on my way," answers "as I go across the hills" in the second line of poem 1208.
The third line, "how enviably," echoes the last line of poem 1208.
In the fourth line, "kamo" is exclamatory: "how they stand side by side!" The poem pauses here.
The final line repeats the last line of the preceding poem, a noun ending that gives by inversion what stands together.
Source: Manyoshu
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