Haruyanagi kazuragiyama ni tatsu kumo no tachite mo ite mo imo o shi zo omou

春柳葛城山に立つ雲の
立ちても居ても妹をしぞ思ふ

Roma-ji: Haruyanagi kazuragiyama ni tatsu kumo no tachite mo ite mo imo o shi zo omou
English Translation: Spring willow garlands,
on Kazuragi mountain
clouds rise like my heart;
whether rising or sitting,
it is you I'm thinking of
Meaning: Like the clouds that rise on Mount Kazuragi, whether I am standing or sitting, it is only you I think of.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2453

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Feelings through Things"
Moving from the clouds that rise (tatsu) over Mount Kazuragi to "rising or sitting" (tachite mo ite mo), this love poem declares that whatever the speaker does, the beloved alone fills his thoughts. With clouds welling up from the mountain as its preface, it states plainly a longing that never lets go for a moment.
Like the preceding poem, this one speaks through clouds. Its last line, "imo o shi zo omou," takes the same form as the last line of the next poem, 2454, "kimi o shi zo omou"; here a man thinks of his "imo," while the next poem turns to "kimi," the two set side by side.
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, "haruyanagi": a pillow word attached to "Kazuragi." Because spring willow shoots were wound into hair garlands (kazura), it leads to Kazuragi, which shares that sound.
Second line, "kazuragiyama ni": Mount Kazuragi, in the Kongo range on the border of Nara and Osaka. Following the pillow word, it is presented as a mountain where clouds rise.
Third line, "tatsu kumo no": "like the rising clouds." The first three lines form a preface, and the clouds' "rising" (tatsu) leads to the "tachi" of the fourth line through the shared sound.
Fourth line, "tachite mo ite mo": "whether standing or sitting," that is, whatever I do. "I" (wi) means to sit, and the line turns from the preface to the feeling within.
Fifth line, "imo o shi zo omou": "it is you alone I think of." "Shi" is an emphatic particle, and with the binding particle "zo" the verb "omou" closes in the attributive form (kakari-musubi).
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection
Source: Manyoshu
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