Idete inaba amatobu kari no nakinubemi kyō kyō to iu ni toshi zo henikeru

出でて去なば天飛ぶ雁の泣きぬべみ
今日今日と言ふに年ぞ経にける

Roma-ji: Idete inaba amatobu kari no nakinubemi kyō kyō to iu ni toshi zo henikeru
English Translation: Should I leave and go,
like the wild geese through the sky
I would cry, I fear;
saying "Today, today,"
oh, a year has passed me by!
Meaning: If I leave, I fear I will cry like the wild geese flying through the sky—so I kept saying "today, today," and a whole year has gone by.
Commentary: Book Ten Autumn Love Poems 2266

Headnote: "Love Expressed Through Wild Geese"
This poem says that whenever the speaker tried to set out, he feared he would cry like the geese on leaving, and so kept saying "today, today" until a year had passed. Its headnote is "Love Expressed Through Wild Geese." It shows both an irresolute heart postponing departure for the pain of parting and deep attachment to the beloved. The geese that fly away crying in the geese group of the miscellaneous poems here become a figure for tears of parting.

In the first line, "idete inaba," "na" is the irrealis of the completive "nu" and "ba" marks a supposition: if I leave. The line is hypermetric.
The second line, "like the geese flying through the sky," names the comparison.
In the third line, "nakinubemi," "bemi" is the stem of "beshi" with causal "mi": because I would likely cry. It overlays the geese's "naki," crying, with human weeping; the line is hypermetric.
The fourth line, "while saying today, today," describes the postponement.
In the last line, "toshi zo henikeru," "zo" is an emphatic particle in kakari-musubi with the attributive "keru."
Source: Manyoshu
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