Yūdatami Tanakamiyama no sanakazura arisarite shimo ima narazu tomo

木綿畳田上山のさな葛
ありさりてしも今ならずとも

Roma-ji: Yūdatami Tanakamiyama no sanakazura arisarite shimo ima narazu tomo
English Translation: Like the trailing vine
on Mount Tanakami, offered
with folded cloth,
let time pass, we'll come together,
even if it is not now
Meaning: Like the trailing vine on Mount Tanakami, let time go by; we will come together later, even if it is not now.
Commentary: Book Twelve Expressing Thoughts through Things 3070

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Thoughts through Things"
Like the vine on Mount Tanakami that stretches long and later intertwines, the poet resolves to meet in time. The long-reaching nature of the vine is overlaid with a bond that will be joined over time. From here a series of poems on the trailing vine follows.
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, "yūdatami," folded mulberry cloth offered to the gods, is a pillow word for "Tanakami," which shares the sound "ta."
Line two, "Tanakamiyama no," means "of Mount Tanakami" in Ōtsu, Shiga Prefecture.
Line three, "sanakazura," a kind of trailing vine, forms an introduction leading to "arisarite," because its vines stretch out and later intertwine.
Line four, "arisarite shimo," means "letting time pass as it will."
Line five, "ima narazu tomo," means "even if not now," in the same spirit as "ima ni arazu tomo" at the end of poem 3018 in this book.
Author: Unknown
Source: Manyoshu
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