Minasoko ni ouru tamamo no uchinabiki kokoro wa yorite kōru konokoro

水底に生ふる玉藻のうち靡き
心は寄りて恋ふるこのころ

Roma-ji: Minasoko ni ouru tamamo no uchinabiki kokoro wa yorite kōru konokoro
English Translation: Deep beneath the waters,
like the jewel-weed that grows there
swaying all one way,
so my heart has drawn to you,
longing for you in these days
Meaning: Like the jewel-weed growing on the water's bed, swaying all one way, my heart has drawn close to you, longing for you in these days.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2482

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Feelings through Things"
As the jewel-weed growing on the water's bed sways with the current, so the speaker's heart leans wholly toward the beloved in these recent days of longing. The image of the swaying weed overlays a heart inclining ever toward another.
This is one of the poems "Expressing Feelings through Things," a love poem set upon jewel-weed. The next poem also speaks of the swaying of jewel-weed in "tamamo nasu nabiki," so the two poems sit side by side through this image. Whereas this poem likens the speaker's own longing heart to the weed, the next likens the sleeping figure of the beloved to it.
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, "minasoko ni": "at the bottom of the water."
Second line, "ouru tamamo no": "of the lovely seaweed that grows." "Tama" (jewel) is an honorific of praise. The first two lines form a preface, leading from the swaying of the weed to the following "uchinabiki."
Third line, "uchinabiki": "swaying wholly." "Uchi" is a prefix, and the line overlays the swaying weed with a heart inclining toward the beloved.
Fourth line, "kokoro wa yorite": "my heart draws close." The particle "wa" singles out the heart.
Fifth line, "kōru konokoro": "these days of longing." Ending on the noun "konokoro," the poem leaves the ongoing longing to resonate.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection
Source: Manyoshu
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