Kakiho nasu hito no yokogoto shigemi kamo awanu hi maneku tsuki no henuramu

垣ほなす人の横言繁みかも
逢はぬ日数多く月の経ぬらむ

Roma-ji: Kakiho nasu hito no yokogoto shigemi kamo awanu hi maneku tsuki no henuramu
English Translation: Is it that people
hemming us in like a hedge
spread their slander thick,
that unmet days pile up so
and the months have passed away?
Meaning: Is it because people, hemming us in like a hedge, are so full of slander that the days without meeting have piled up and months have gone by?
Commentary: Book Nine Love Poems 1793

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "A poem composed in longing for a maiden, with tanka"; envoy
Perhaps because the slander of those who surround them like a hedge is so thick, the speaker laments, days without meeting have piled up and months have passed. It expresses the pain of a love blocked by others' eyes and gossip.
This is the envoy to the long poem 1792 in this book. The long poem says that while he kept her name hidden in his heart, days without meeting piled up, he found no way to ease his longing, his heart broke, and since he cannot see face to face the girl he always holds in mind, his heart, like water flowing unseen below, is never at peace.
The author, Tanabe no Sakimaro, was a poet of the mid-Nara period, a clerk in the Office of Sake Brewing who served Tachibana no Moroe. This poem is taken from the Sakimaro Collection, and it is widely held to be his own work.

The first line, "is it that people," introduces those who surround the lovers.
The second line, "hemming us in like a hedge," leads to yokogoto, slander or baseless rumor.
The third line, "spread their slander thick," uses shigemi, the stem of shigeshi with causal mi, and kamo marking a question.
The fourth line, "that unmet days pile up so," echoes the long poem's "as the days without meeting pass."
The final line, "and the months have passed away?" answers kamo with the attributive ramu.
Author: Tanabe no Sakimaro (from the Sakimaro Collection)
Source: Manyoshu
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