Yoshieyashi tada narazu tomo nuedori no uranage ori to tsugemu ko mo ga mo

よしゑやし直ならずともぬえ鳥の
うら嘆げ居りと告げむ子もがも

Roma-ji: Yoshieyashi tada narazu tomo nuedori no uranage ori to tsugemu ko mo ga mo
English Translation: Oh well, let it be,
though we may not meet in person,
like the nue bird
grieving, sighing in my heart—
if only one would tell her!
Meaning: Well, let it be, even if we cannot meet face to face—if only there were a girl to tell her that I sit grieving in my heart like the nue bird.
Commentary: Book Ten Autumn Miscellaneous Poems 2031

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Tanabata"
This poem wishes that, even if meeting in person cannot be helped, there were at least a messenger girl to tell the beloved how the speaker grieves within. Like 1997 it uses the phrase "nuedori no uranage," overlaying the heart's grief with the mournful cry of the nue bird. It shows the wish, recurring through the series, to convey in words the feelings of those who cannot meet.
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, "yoshieyashi," is an interjection meaning oh well, whatever may be.
The second line, "tada narazu tomo," uses the concessive "tomo": even if not directly.
The third line, "nuedori no," is a pillow word for "uranagu," the same line as in 1997.
The fourth line, "that I sit grieving within," gives the message.
In the last line, "tsugemu ko mo ga mo," "mo ga mo" is a particle of wishing: if only there were a girl to tell her.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Source: Manyoshu
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