Tachite ite tazuki mo shirazu omoedomo imo ni tsugeneba matsukai mo kozu

立ちて居てたづきも知らず思へども
妹に告げねば間使も来ず

Roma-ji: Tachite ite tazuki mo shirazu omoedomo imo ni tsugeneba matsukai mo kozu
English Translation: Standing up, sitting down,
I know no way to ease it,
though I long for her;
since I have not told my love,
no messenger comes between
Meaning: Whether I stand or sit, I do not know what to do, so deeply do I long for her; yet since I have not told her, no messenger comes to pass between us.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2388

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing One's Feelings Directly"
Unable to settle whether standing or sitting, the speaker longs helplessly for his beloved, yet laments that no messenger can be expected, since he has never told her of his feelings. The poem frankly conveys both his frustration at being unable to confess and the restless waiting for word from her.
The poem belongs to the category "Expressing One's Feelings Directly," stating the heart's thoughts without speaking through objects. Its Chinese-character text is written in the so-called abbreviated style, which records almost none of the particles or auxiliaries, and it shows well a hallmark of the poems of the Hitomaro Collection. The left note stating that "the foregoing 149 poems come from the Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection" records that the poems up to this point were drawn from that collection.
The author is unknown; according to the left note, the poem comes from the Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection. That collection is thought to contain both Hitomaro's own poems and poems by others that he recorded. Kakinomoto no Hitomaro was a court poet active in the reigns of Empress Jito and Emperor Monmu, and is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "tachite ite": "standing, sitting," that is, rising and sitting down again. The restlessness of one who cannot keep still is expressed through the movements of the body.
Second line, "tazuki mo shirazu": "knowing no means." The particle "mo" strengthens the sense of a heart in turmoil that has no idea what to do.
Third line, "omoedomo": "though I long for her." The concessive "domo" links the depth of his longing with the reality that it does not reach her.
Fourth line, "imo ni tsugeneba": "since I have not told my beloved." "Ne" is the perfective form of the negative auxiliary "zu," and with "ba" it states an established condition. The speaker admits that the cause lies with himself.
Fifth line, "matsukai mo kozu": "no messenger passing between us comes either." The poem closes on the negative "zu," leaving the loneliness of waiting for a messenger who does not come as its lingering note.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection
Source: Manyoshu
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