Omoiidete subenaki toki wa amagumo no okuka mo shirazu koitsutsu zo oru

思ひ出でてすべなき時は天雲の
奥処も知らず恋ひつつぞ居る

Roma-ji: Omoiidete subenaki toki wa amagumo no okuka mo shirazu koitsutsu zo oru
English Translation: When I remember you
and nothing can be done,
like the clouds of heaven
whose far end no one can know,
I sit here lost in love
Meaning: When I think of you and there is nothing I can do, I sit here longing endlessly, like the clouds of heaven whose farthest reaches no one knows.
Commentary: Book Twelve Expressing Thoughts through Things 3030

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Thoughts through Things"
When memories leave the poet helpless, the longing goes on endlessly like clouds whose farthest reaches cannot be known. The image of clouds in the vast sky expresses the boundlessness of love.
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, "omoiidete," means "remembering," a hypermetric line of six syllables.
Line two, "subenaki toki wa," means "when there is nothing to be done."
Line three, "amagumo no," means "of the clouds of heaven," leading through their boundless expanse to "okuka mo shirazu."
Line four, "okuka mo shirazu," means "knowing no end."
Line five, "koitsutsu zo oru," means "I go on longing," the same final line as poem 2901 in this book.
Author: Unknown
Source: Manyoshu
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