Kurahashi no yama o takami ka yogomori ni idekuru tsuki no katamachi kataki

倉橋の山を高みか夜隠りに
出で来る月の片待ちかたき

Roma-ji: Kurahashi no yama o takami ka yogomori ni idekuru tsuki no katamachi kataki
English Translation: Is it that the hills
of Kurahashi are so high?
In the depths of night
at last the moon comes rising;
hard it is to wait for it.
Meaning: Is it because the mountain of Kurahashi is so high? Waiting and waiting for the moon that only rises deep in the night is hard to bear.
Commentary: Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems 1763

Headnote: "A poem by Princess Sami"
The speaker wonders whether the height of Mount Kurahashi is why the moon rises only deep in the night, and tells how hard it is to wait for it. Guessing that the mountain delays the moonrise, she expresses the impatience of waiting.
The left note says that this poem already appears among those of Hashihito no Sukune Ōura, but its last line differs and the author cannot be determined, so it is included again. An almost identical poem ending "its light so scant" appears in Book Three as 290 under Hashihito no Ōura's name. Mount Kurahashi is in Kurahashi, Sakurai, Nara, and some identify it with Mount Otowa.
The author, Princess Sami, is otherwise unknown.

The first line, "is it that the hills," introduces the place.
The second line, "of Kurahashi are so high?" uses the o…mi construction for cause, with the questioning ka.
The third line, "in the depths of night," means late at night.
The fourth line, "at last the moon comes rising," describes the moon emerging from the mountain.
The final line, "hard it is to wait for it," differs from the ending of 290 in Book Three, "its light so scant," and sings from the side of the one waiting. It ends in the attributive form answering ka in the second line.
Author: Princess Sami
Source: Manyoshu
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