Aki no no no obana ga ure no oinabiki kokoro wa imo ni yorinikeru ka mo

秋の野の尾花が末の生ひ靡き
心は妹に寄りにけるかも

Roma-ji: Aki no no no obana ga ure no oinabiki kokoro wa imo ni yorinikeru ka mo
English Translation: In the autumn fields
tips of plumes of pampas grass
growing, bending low—
so my heart toward my love
has leaned over, all the way.
Meaning: As the tips of the pampas grass in the autumn fields grow and bend, so my heart has leaned toward my beloved.
Commentary: Book Ten Autumn Love Poems 2242

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Autumn Love Poems"
This poem says that as the tips of pampas grass in the autumn fields bend one way, the speaker's heart has leaned wholly toward the beloved. The image of pampas plumes swaying in the wind is overlaid with the movement of a heart inclining toward the beloved. The pampas grass sung as scenery in 2167 and elsewhere becomes in the love poems a figure for the heart's leaning.
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 autumn fields," is hypermetric.
The second line, "the tips of the pampas plumes," names the grass.
The third line, "growing and bending," with the upper lines forming a preface leading into "yoru," to lean.
The fourth line, "my heart to my beloved," names the direction of the heart.
In the last line, "yorinikeru ka mo," "keri" and "ka mo" are exclamatory, closing with the realization of the heart's leaning.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Source: Manyoshu
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