Wagimoko ni mata mo Ōmi no Yasu no kawa yasui mo nezu ni koiwataru kamo

我妹子にまたも近江の安の川
安寐も寝ずに恋ひわたるかも

Roma-ji: Wagimoko ni mata mo Ōmi no Yasu no kawa yasui mo nezu ni koiwataru kamo
English Translation: "To meet my love again,"
so goes the name of Ōmi,
and its Yasu River;
yet with no easeful sleep
I go on longing still
Meaning: Ōmi, whose name promises meeting my beloved again, and its Yasu River, "ease"; yet without restful sleep I go on longing.
Commentary: Book Twelve Thoughts Arising on Journeys 3157

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Thoughts Arising on Journeys"
Using the Yasu River in Ōmi as an introduction, the poet sings of longing for his wife and being unable to sleep in peace. Wordplay on place names is layered: "au," to meet, with Ōmi, and the Yasu River with "yasui," restful sleep.
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, "wagimoko ni," means "to my darling."
Line two, "mata mo Ōmi no," pivots on "au," to meet again, and the place name Ōmi, read "Afumi" in the kana line.
Line three, "Yasu no kawa," is the Yasu River in Shiga Prefecture, and the lines up to here form an introduction leading through the sound "yasu" to "yasui."
Line four, "yasui mo nezu ni," means "without sleeping restful sleep."
Line five, "koiwataru kamo," means "I go on longing."
Author: Unknown
Source: Manyoshu
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