Kinō mite kyō koso hedate wagimoko ga kokodaku tsugite mimaku shi hoshi mo

昨日見て今日こそ隔て我妹子が
ここだく継ぎて見まくし欲しも

Roma-ji: Kinō mite kyō koso hedate wagimoko ga kokodaku tsugite mimaku shi hoshi mo
English Translation: Yesterday I saw her,
and today apart we stay,
yet my dearest love,
so much, again and again,
I long to see her now
Meaning: I saw her yesterday, and we have been apart only today, yet how much, again and again, I long to see my dearest love.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2559

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing One's Feelings Directly"
Though he saw her only yesterday and has been parted for just today, he longs so to see her again and again. The poem frankly shows a man's elated heart at the beginning of love, unable to bear even a single day's separation.
Poem 2554 of this book has "tsugite mimaku no hoshiki kimi kamo," so poems wishing to meet again and again, from a woman's side and a man's side, are placed near each other. "Kokodaku" belongs with "kokoda" in poem 2553, and words for the abundance of love's feelings are used in succession.
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, "kinō mite": "having seen her yesterday." "Miru" means a man and woman meeting.
Second line, "kyō koso hedate": "today we are apart." The particle "koso" strongly singles out the one day's separation, but the expected ending is not completed and the line runs on.
Third line, "wagimoko ga": "my dearest love." "Wagimoko" is the affectionate word a man uses for his wife or sweetheart.
Fourth line, "kokodaku tsugite": "so much, again and again." "Kokodaku" means "in great number" or "exceedingly."
Fifth line, "mimaku shi hoshi mo": "I long to see her." "Mimaku" is the nominalized form with "mu," "shi" is an emphatic particle, and "mo" an exclamatory particle, closing the poem with earnest feeling.
Source: Manyoshu
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