Kumogakuru kojima no kami no kashikokeba me koso hedatere kokoro hedate ya

雲隠る小島の神の畏けば
目こそ隔てれ心隔てや

Roma-ji: Kumogakuru kojima no kami no kashikokeba me koso hedatere kokoro hedate ya
English Translation: Hid among the clouds,
the god of the little isle
fills my heart with awe;
though our eyes are kept apart,
are our hearts divided too?
Meaning: Because the god of the little isle hidden in the clouds fills me with awe, we are kept from each other's sight—but are our hearts kept apart?
Commentary: Book Seven Allegorical Poems 1310

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On the Sea"
Because the god of the little island hidden in the clouds is so awe-inspiring, the lovers are kept from seeing each other—but their hearts, the poet insists, are not kept apart. The island god is taken to stand for a figure of awe such as the beloved's parent, and the poem declares that though they cannot meet, their hearts are joined.
It is the third poem of the series on the sea. The left note says, "The fifteen poems above come from the Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection," and this is the last of those fifteen. From the next poem, 1311, anonymous poems follow, returning to the theme of robes.

The first line, "Hid among the clouds," describes the island veiled in cloud.
The second line, "the god of the little isle," stands for an awe-inspiring figure such as the beloved's parent.
The third line, "fills my heart with awe," gives the reason.
The fourth line, "though our eyes are kept apart," is a kakari-musubi construction in which "koso" is answered by the perfective "hedatere," continuing concessively.
The final line, "are our hearts divided too?" is rhetorical; "eyes" in the fourth line and "hearts" here form a contrast.
Source: Manyoshu
Prev Poem: Kaze fukite umi wa aru tomo asu to iwaba hisashiku arubeshi kimi ga manimani
Next Poem: Tsurubami no kinu wa hito mina kotonashi to iishi toki yori kihoshiku omōyu