Shirakumo no ioe ni kakuri tōku tomo yoi sarazu mimu imo ga atari wa

白雲の五百重に隠り遠くとも
宵さらず見む妹があたりは

Roma-ji: Shirakumo no ioe ni kakuri tōku tomo yoi sarazu mimu imo ga atari wa
English Translation: Though the clouds so white
hide her, fold on hundred folds,
and she is far away,
each night I will look toward
the place where my darling dwells.
Meaning: Though she is far away, hidden by white clouds folded five hundred deep, every evening without fail I will gaze toward where my beloved lives.
Commentary: Book Ten Autumn Miscellaneous Poems 2026

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Tanabata"
In this poem the Herdsman vows to gaze every evening toward where his wife lives, though white clouds hide it in many layers and she is far away. It shows a single-hearted wish to keep their hearts connected even on days they cannot meet. It shares its construction with "hidden in the night mist, though far away" in 2008, exchanging night mist for white clouds to sing of feelings across a great distance. It also resonates with 1897 of the spring love poems, which vows to gaze toward the beloved's home.
Kakinomoto no Hitomaro was a court poet of the Asuka period, active under Empress Jitō and Emperor Monmu. The left note records that this poem comes from the Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection, and it is uncertain whether it is Hitomaro's own work or a poem by someone else that he recorded.

The first line, "of the white clouds," names the clouds.
The second line, "hidden in five hundred layers," describes the concealment.
In the third line, "tōku tomo," "tomo" marks a concessive supposition; it is the same line as the third line of 2008.
In the fourth line, "yoi sarazu mimu," "sarazu" means without fail and "mu" expresses intention. The poem breaks here.
The last line, "my beloved's dwelling," names by inversion the object of the gaze at the end.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Source: Manyoshu
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