Omoiizuru toki wa subenami Sahoyama ni tatsu amagiri no kenubeku omōyu

思ひ出づる時はすべなみ佐保山に
立つ雨霧の消ぬべく思ほゆ

Roma-ji: Omoiizuru toki wa subenami Sahoyama ni tatsu amagiri no kenubeku omōyu
English Translation: When I remember you,
nothing can be done at all;
like the misty rain
rising on Mount Saho,
I feel that I might fade away
Meaning: When I think of you there is nothing I can do; like the rain mist rising on Mount Saho, I feel I might simply fade away.
Commentary: Book Twelve Expressing Thoughts through Things 3036

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Thoughts through Things"
When the poet remembers the beloved there is nothing to be done, and like the rain mist rising on Mount Saho, the poet feels about to fade away. The third poem in the mist series, it overlays the poet's own life on easily vanishing mist.
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, "omoiizuru," means "when I remember," a hypermetric line of six syllables.
Line two, "toki wa subenami," means "since at such times there is nothing to be done."
Line three, "Sahoyama ni," means "on Mount Saho," the hills around Saho in northern Nara.
Line four, "tatsu amagiri no," means "of the rising rain mist," and the lines up to here form an introduction leading to "kenu," to vanish. It continues the mist of the two preceding poems.
Line five, "kenubeku omōyu," means "I feel I might vanish," a hypermetric line of eight syllables.
Author: Unknown
Source: Manyoshu
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