Aratama no tsuki tatsu made ni kimasaneba ime ni shi mitsutsu omoi zo waga seshi

あらたまの月立つまでに来まさねば
夢にし見つつ思ひぞ我がせし

Roma-ji: Aratama no tsuki tatsu made ni kimasaneba ime ni shi mitsutsu omoi zo waga seshi
English Translation: The new moon's jewel,
until the month had turned anew
since you did not come,
seeing you in dreams again,
I have kept you in my thoughts
Meaning: Since you did not come until the new month began, I kept thinking of you, seeing you in my dreams.
Commentary: Book Eight Autumn Love Poems 1620

Headnote: "A poem in reply by Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue"
Answering Yakamochi's preceding poem, she says that since he did not come until the new month began, she thought of him while seeing him in her dreams. Conveying how she waited for his visit by saying she thought of him so much she dreamed of him, she expresses deep affection for her nephew. The note dates it to the eighth month of autumn, Tenpyō 11 (739).
The author, Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue, was a daughter of Ōtomo no Yasumaro and a half-sister of Ōtomo no Tabito. She was the aunt of Ōtomo no Yakamochi and later also his mother-in-law, and she left many poems in the Man'yōshū.

The first line, "aratama no," is a pillow word for "month."
The second line means "until the new month began," showing how long she waited.
The third line, the negative of the honorific "masu" with "ba," means "since you did not come."
The fourth line, with the emphatic "shi" and continuative "tsutsu," means "seeing you again and again in dreams."
The final line forms a kakari-musubi between "zo" and "shi," the attributive of the past "ki," stressing that she thought of him all along. It answers in the same form as the preceding poem, which closed with a "zo" kakari-musubi, "I have set out and come."
Author: Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue
Source: Manyoshu
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