Yamajisa no shiratsuyu omomi uraburete kokoro mo fukaku a ga koi yamazu

山ぢさの白露重みうらぶれて
心も深く我が恋やまず

Roma-ji: Yamajisa no shiratsuyu omomi uraburete kokoro mo fukaku a ga koi yamazu
English Translation: Like the mountain jisa,
weighed down by the silver dew,
drooping in my heart,
deep within my very soul,
my love for you never ends
Meaning: As the mountain jisa droops beneath the weight of the white dew, I too droop in my heart; deep within, my love never ceases.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2469

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Feelings through Things"
Overlaying the image of the mountain jisa bowed under the weight of white dew with the image of the speaker wilting with love, the poem tells of a love deeply held that never ceases. The figure of plants bent and wet with dew aptly mirrors a heart sunk in love.
This is one of the poems "Expressing Feelings through Things," a love poem set upon a tree called the mountain jisa. Poem 2465 of this book also has "uraburenikeri," and the device of matching plants wilting with longing to the heart of one in love continues here.
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, "yamajisa no": the name of a tree growing in the mountains, thought by some to be the snowbell.
Second line, "shiratsuyu omomi": "because the white dew is heavy." "Omomi" is the so-called mi-construction, the stem of an adjective with the suffix "mi," expressing cause. The first two lines form a preface leading into "uraburete."
Third line, "uraburete": "drooping in spirit." The word applies both to the jisa bowed with dew and to the speaker sunk in love.
Fourth line, "kokoro mo fukaku": "deep in the heart as well," expressing the depth of love's longing.
Fifth line, "a ga koi yamazu": "my love does not cease." "Zu" is the negative auxiliary, closing the poem with a firm declaration of unending love.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection
Source: Manyoshu
Prev Poem: Minato ashi ni majireru kusa no shirikusa no hito mina shirinu waga shitamoi wa
Next Poem: Minato ni sanebau kosuge nusumawazu kimi ni koi tsutsu arikatenu kamo