Okuyama no iwamotosuge no ne fukaku mo omōyuru kamo aga omoizuma wa

奥山の岩本菅の根深くも
思ほゆるかも我が思ひ妻は

Roma-ji: Okuyama no iwamotosuge no ne fukaku mo omōyuru kamo aga omoizuma wa
English Translation: Deep in the mountains
the sedge beneath the boulders
with its roots so deep:
so deep within me she dwells,
the wife my heart holds so dear
Meaning: Deep as the roots of the sedge growing at the foot of the rocks in the far mountains, so deeply does she fill my thoughts, the wife I hold dear.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2761

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Feelings through Things"
This love poem tells how the wife held dear rises in the speaker's thoughts from the very depths of the heart. With sedge rooted deep at the foot of rocks in the far mountains as its introduction, it conveys the depth of a love not easily shaken.
It is a poem "Expressing Feelings through Things" that speaks through sedge growing among rocks, following the sedge of Arima in poem 2757 and the sedge roots in poem 2758. In particular, whereas poem 2758 led from "suga no ne no" to "nemokoro," this poem leads from the sedge roots to "ne fukaku," overlaying the same sedge roots with 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, "okuyama no": "of the deep mountains" far from human dwellings, evoking a deep place unknown to others.
Second line, "iwamotosuge no": "of the sedge growing at the foot of the rocks." The first two lines form an introductory phrase that, since the sedge sends its roots deep at the base of the rocks, leads to "ne fukaku" in the third line.
Third line, "ne fukaku mo": "deeply, as deep as roots." The meaning shifts from the sedge roots of the introduction to thoughts deep within the heart.
Fourth line, "omōyuru kamo": "how she comes to my mind." "Yu" is a spontaneous auxiliary and the final particle "kamo" adds deep feeling. The poem breaks here, inverted with the last line.
Fifth line, "aga omoizuma wa": "the wife I hold dear." This hypermetric line of eight syllables reveals the one who is thought of only at the end through inversion, closing with a lingering resonance.
Source: Manyoshu
Prev Poem: Ashihiki no yamasawa egu o tsumi ni yukamu hi dani mo awase haha wa semu tomo
Next Poem: Ashikaki no naka no nikogusa nikoyaka ni ware to emashite hito ni shirayu na