Imo matsu to Mikasa no yama no yamasuge no yamazu ya koimu inochi shinazu wa

妹待つと御笠の山の山菅の
止まずや恋ひむ命死なずは

Roma-ji: Imo matsu to Mikasa no yama no yamasuge no yamazu ya koimu inochi shinazu wa
English Translation: Waiting for my love,
on the hill they call Mikasa
grows the mountain sedge;
without ceasing will I long,
so long as I'm alive
Meaning: Like the mountain sedge on Mount Mikasa, I wait for my beloved; will I go on longing without ceasing, as long as I live?
Commentary: Book Twelve Expressing Thoughts through Things 3066

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Thoughts through Things"
Using the mountain sedge on Mount Mikasa as an introduction, the poet wonders whether to go on longing without ceasing as long as life lasts. The echo between "yamasuge" and "yamazu" impresses on us an unending 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, "imo matsu to," means "waiting for my beloved," taken to lead to "Mikasa," though how it connects is debated.
Line two, "Mikasa no yama no," means "of Mount Mikasa" at Kasuga in Nara.
Line three, "yamasuge no," means "the mountain sedge," and the lines up to here form an introduction leading by sound to "yamazu." Poem 2862 in this book uses the same device.
Line four, "yamazu ya koimu," means "will I go on longing without ceasing?"
Line five, "inochi shinazu wa," means "so long as I live," the same final line as poem 2883 in this book.
Author: Unknown
Source: Manyoshu
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