Asakage ni aga mi wa narinu tamakagiru honoka ni miete inishi ko yue ni

朝影に我が身はなりぬ玉かぎる
ほのかに見えて去にし子ゆゑに

Roma-ji: Asakage ni aga mi wa narinu tamakagiru honoka ni miete inishi ko yue ni
English Translation: Thin as a morning shadow
my body has become,
all for the girl
who, glimmering like a jewel,
appeared faintly and was gone
Meaning: I have grown as thin as a morning shadow, all for the girl who appeared faintly, glimmering like a jewel, and then was gone.
Commentary: Book Twelve Expressing Thoughts through Things 3085

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Thoughts through Things"
The poet has grown as thin as a morning shadow for a girl who appeared faintly and was gone. An almost identical poem appears as poem 2394 of Book Eleven, from the Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection.
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, "asakage ni," means "like a morning shadow," the long thin shadow cast in morning light, likening the poet's love-worn thinness.
Line two, "aga mi wa narinu," means "my body has become," and the poem pauses here.
Line three, "tamakagiru," meaning "glimmering like a jewel," is a pillow word for "honoka," faintly.
Line four, "honoka ni miete," means "appearing faintly."
Line five, "inishi ko yue ni," means "for the girl who went away," giving the reason through inversion with line two.
Author: Unknown
Source: Manyoshu
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