Tomarinishi hito o omou ni Akizuno ni iru shirakumo no yamu toki mo nashi

留まりにし人を思ふに秋津野に
居る白雲のやむ時もなし

Roma-ji: Tomarinishi hito o omou ni Akizuno ni iru shirakumo no yamu toki mo nashi
English Translation: When I think of her,
the one who stayed behind,
like the white clouds
that hang on Akizu Moor,
my longing never ends
Meaning: When I think of the one who stayed behind, my longing, like the white clouds that hang over Akizu Moor, never ceases.
Commentary: Book Twelve Thoughts Arising on Journeys 3179

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Thoughts Arising on Journeys"
When the poet thinks of the one who stayed behind, the longing never ceases, like the white clouds always hanging over Akizu Moor. It closes the section "Thoughts Arising on Journeys," voicing thoughts from the road of the one left at home.
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, "tomarinishi," means "who stayed behind," the one who remained at home.
Line two, "hito o omou ni," means "when I think of that person."
Line three, "Akizuno ni," is taken to mean "on Akizu Moor" in Yoshino, which also appears in poem 3065 in this book.
Line four, "iru shirakumo no," means "like the white clouds hanging there," leading to "yamu toki mo nashi."
Line five, "yamu toki mo nashi," means "there is no time it ceases," the same final line as poem 2878 in this book.
Author: Unknown
Source: Manyoshu
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