Kakitsuhata Sakisawa ni ouru suga no ne no tayu to ya kimi ga mienu konogoro

かきつはた佐紀沢に生ふる菅の根の
絶ゆとや君が見えぬこのころ

Roma-ji: Kakitsuhata Sakisawa ni ouru suga no ne no tayu to ya kimi ga mienu konogoro
English Translation: Like the sedge's roots
growing in the iris-blooming
marsh of Saki,
will our love be broken off,
that you have not come of late
Meaning: Like the roots of sedge in the iris marsh at Saki, are we to be broken off, that you have not come to me lately?
Commentary: Book Twelve Expressing Thoughts through Things 3052

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Thoughts through Things"
Using the sedge roots in the marsh at Saki as an introduction, a woman grows anxious that her lover has not appeared lately, wondering if their bond is to be broken. The breaking of sedge roots is overlaid with the breaking of their bond.
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, "kakitsuhata," the rabbit-ear iris, is a pillow word for the place name "Saki" through "saki," to bloom.
Line two, "Sakisawa ni ouru," means "growing in the marsh at Saki" in northern Nara, a hypermetric line of eight syllables.
Line three, "suga no ne no," means "the sedge roots," and the lines up to here form an introduction leading to "tayu," to break.
Line four, "tayu to ya kimi ga," means "is it to break off, that you."
Line five, "mienu konogoro," means "have not appeared these days," the same final line as poem 3015 in this book.
Author: Unknown
Source: Manyoshu
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