Hototogisu Tobata no ura ni shiku nami no shikushiku kimi o mimu yoshi mogamo

霍公鳥飛幡の浦にしく波の
しくしく君を見むよしもがも

Roma-ji: Hototogisu Tobata no ura ni shiku nami no shikushiku kimi o mimu yoshi mogamo
English Translation: Like the waves that come
again and again to Tobata,
where the cuckoo flies,
again and again, if only
there were a way to see you
Meaning: Like the waves rolling in again and again at Tobata Bay, where the cuckoo flies, if only there were a way to see you again and again.
Commentary: Book Twelve Thoughts Arising on Journeys 3165

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Thoughts Arising on Journeys"
Using the waves rolling in again and again at Tobata Bay as an introduction, the poet wishes for a way to see the beloved again and again. The image of recurring waves conveys the wish to meet often.
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, "hototogisu," the cuckoo, is a pillow word for "Tobata," since the cuckoo "tobu," flies.
Line two, "Tobata no ura ni," means "at Tobata Bay," in Tobata, Kitakyūshū, Fukuoka Prefecture.
Line three, "shiku nami no," means "like the waves that come again and again," and the lines up to here form an introduction leading to "shikushiku."
Line four, "shikushiku kimi o," means "you, again and again."
Line five, "mimu yoshi mogamo," means "if only there were a way to see you," the same as the variant final line of poem 3051 in this book.
Author: Unknown
Source: Manyoshu
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