Yamasuge no midarekoi nomi seshime tsutsu awanu imo kamo toshi wa he ni tsutsu

山菅の乱れ恋のみせしめつつ
逢はぬ妹かも年は経につつ

Roma-ji: Yamasuge no midarekoi nomi seshime tsutsu awanu imo kamo toshi wa he ni tsutsu
English Translation: Like the mountain sedge,
only love in disarray
do you make me feel,
never meeting me, my love,
while the years go passing by
Meaning: You make me suffer only a love in disarray, like tangled mountain sedge, and never meet me, my beloved, while the years keep passing by.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2474

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Feelings through Things"
Reproaching the beloved who gives the speaker nothing but a love in disarray yet never consents to meet, the poem laments the years slipping uselessly by. It sets this tangled longing upon the leaves of mountain sedge growing in disorder.
This is one of the poems "Expressing Feelings through Things," part of the series set upon sedge. Its fifth line, "toshi wa he ni tsutsu," is identical to the fifth line of poem 2479 of this book, and the two share the lament of years passing without a meeting.
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, "yamasuge no": a pillow word for "midare" (disarray), since the leaves of mountain sedge grow tangled.
Second line, "midarekoi nomi": "only a love that throws the heart into disarray." "Nomi" is a restrictive particle, showing that there is no meeting, only the pain of love.
Third line, "seshime tsutsu": "while making me do so." "Shime" is the continuative form of the causative auxiliary "shimu," expressing that the beloved causes the speaker to suffer such love.
Fourth line, "awanu imo kamo": "my beloved, who will not meet me." "Kamo" is an exclamatory particle, and the poem pauses here.
Fifth line, "toshi wa he ni tsutsu": "while the years keep passing." "Ni" is the continuative form of the perfective auxiliary "nu" and "tsutsu" expresses continuation; set in inverted order, the line leaves a lingering sorrow over the years mounting without a meeting.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection
Source: Manyoshu
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