Waga seko o ima ka ima ka to machiiru ni yo no fukeyukeba nagekitsuru kamo

我が背子を今か今かと待ち居るに
夜の更けゆけば嘆きつるかも

Roma-ji: Waga seko o ima ka ima ka to machiiru ni yo no fukeyukeba nagekitsuru kamo
English Translation: My dear husband,
"now he comes, now surely he comes,"
I sat there waiting,
but as the night grew deeper
I found myself in sighs
Meaning: I sat waiting for my husband, thinking "Now he'll come, now surely," but as the night wore on I could only sigh.
Commentary: Book Twelve Expressing Thoughts Directly 2864

Headnote: "Expressing Thoughts Directly"
A woman waits anxiously for her lover, thinking he will come at any moment, but as the night deepens she sinks into sighs. Following the group from the Hitomaro Collection, the poems of "Expressing Thoughts Directly" by unnamed poets begin here.
The poet is unknown. Book Twelve, titled the second part of "Love Poems Exchanged Old and New," gathers love poems by people whose names have not come down to us, arranged by category.

Line one, "waga seko o," is a woman's word for the man she loves, showing the poem's female voice.
Line two, "ima ka ima ka to," means "now, now he'll come," the repetition conveying mounting suspense.
Line three, "machiiru ni," means "as I sat waiting."
Line four, "yo no fukeyukeba," means "as the night grew late," marking the passage of time spent waiting.
Line five, "nagekitsuru kamo," means "I found myself sighing." Poem 2885 in this book ends with the same line.
Author: Unknown
Source: Manyoshu
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