Hitome mishi hito ni kouraku amagirashi furikuru yuki no kenubeku omōyu

一目見し人に恋ふらく天霧らし
降りくる雪の消ぬべく思ほゆ

Roma-ji: Hitome mishi hito ni kouraku amagirashi furikuru yuki no kenubeku omōyu
English Translation: One I saw but once,
how I long for her, my love—
clouding all the sky
like the snow that tumbles down,
I feel that I'd melt away.
Meaning: My longing for one I saw only once—it feels as though I might vanish, like the snow that falls from a clouded sky.
Commentary: Book Ten Winter Love Poems 2340

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Love Expressed Through Snow"
This poem says that the longing for someone seen only once feels about to vanish, like snow falling from a clouded sky. An intense love for one seen only once is likened to fleeting snow. The next poems, 2341 and 2342, also end with "kenubeku omōyu," continuing a series of variant poems on hearts about to fade, entrusted to snow.

In the first line, "hitome mishi," "shi" is the attributive of the past "ki": seen once.
In the second line, "hito ni kouraku," "kouraku" is the nominalized form of "kou": longing for that person.
The third line, "clouding the sky," names the weather.
The fourth line, "like the falling snow," with the upper lines forming a preface leading into "ke."
The last line, "kenubeku omōyu," I feel I will vanish, is hypermetric.
Source: Manyoshu
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