Iki no o ni imo o shi omoeba toshitsuki no yukuramu waki mo omōenu kamo

息の緒に妹をし思へば年月の
行くらむ別も思ほえぬかも

Roma-ji: Iki no o ni imo o shi omoeba toshitsuki no yukuramu waki mo omōenu kamo
English Translation: On the cord of breath
since I hold my love so dear,
of the months and years
how they pass along, the bounds
I can no longer perceive
Meaning: Because I love my wife with every breath of my life, I no longer even sense the passing of the months and years.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2536

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing One's Feelings Directly"
Because he loves his wife with his very life, he can no longer tell how the months and years go by: this is a man's love poem. It states frankly a depth of feeling so absorbing that even the flow of time is forgotten.
The first line's "iki no o," the cord of breath, likens something long-lasting to a cord, just as "toshi no o," the cord of years, does in poem 2534. Where that poem laments the length of years spent in longing, this one sings of losing all sense of the years for the depth of love.
The author is unknown. The anonymous poems of Book Eleven gather love poems by people whose names have not come down to us.

First line, "iki no o ni": "with all my life." "Iki no o" likens the long continuance of breath to a cord and stands for life itself.
Second line, "imo o shi omoeba": "since I think of my love." "Shi" is emphatic, and "ba" after the realis gives a reason.
Third line, "toshitsuki no": "of the months and years."
Fourth line, "yukuramu waki mo": "even the bounds of their passing." "Ramu" is the auxiliary of present conjecture, and "waki" means distinction or boundary.
Fifth line, "omōenu kamo": "I cannot perceive." "Omōyu" means to come to mind naturally; with the negative "nu" and the exclamatory "kamo" it marvels at a love so deep that the passing of time goes unnoticed.
Source: Manyoshu
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