Kaze o itami itaburu nami no aida naku a ga omou kimi wa aiomou ramu ka

風をいたみいたぶる波の間なく
我が思ふ君は相思ふらむか

Roma-ji: Kaze o itami itaburu nami no aida naku a ga omou kimi wa aiomou ramu ka
English Translation: Because the wind is fierce
the waves go tossing wildly,
never pausing once:
does the one I love like this
love me also in return
Meaning: Like the waves tossing wildly in the fierce wind, without pause I think of you; I wonder if you think of me as well.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2736

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Feelings through Things"
As the waves tossed by a fierce wind come without pause, so the speaker thinks without ceasing of the beloved, and wonders whether those thoughts are returned. The intensity of one's own feeling is set against the unease of being unable to see into the other's heart. The poem is also seen as one in a woman's voice.
As a poem expressing feelings through things, it speaks through waves stirred by the wind. "Aida naku" in its third line is the same line as in the next poem, so two poems of identical structure, each using waves as a preface to lead into "aida naku," are placed side by side. It sings the same heart as "aida mo okite wa ga omowanaku ni" in poem 2727 of this book.
The author is unknown. The anonymous poems of Book Eleven gather the love poems of people whose names have not come down to us.

First line, "kaze o itami": "because the wind is fierce." The pattern "o ... mi" expresses cause or reason.
Second line, "itaburu nami no": "of the waves tossing wildly." "Itami" and "itaburu" chime in sound. The lines up to here form a preface, leading from the waves that rise without pause to "aida naku."
Third line, "aida naku": "without pause." The same line as the third line of the next poem, it is the pivot that turns from the preface to the heart of love.
Fourth line, "a ga omou kimi wa": "you, whom I love." The particle "wa" singles out the beloved.
Fifth line, "aiomou ramu ka": "do you love me in return." "Ramu" is the auxiliary of present conjecture and "ka" a particle of question, expressing the unease of guessing at another's heart.
Source: Manyoshu
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