Miyuki furu yoshino no take ni iru kumo no yoso ni mishi ko ni koiwataru kamo

み雪降る吉野の岳に居る雲の
外に見し子に恋ひわたるかも

Roma-ji: Miyuki furu yoshino no take ni iru kumo no yoso ni mishi ko ni koiwataru kamo
English Translation: Where the fine snow falls
on the peaks of Yoshino
the clouds hang still—
so distant was the girl I saw,
and still I go on loving her
Meaning: Like the clouds that rest on the snowy peaks of Yoshino, she was far off when I saw her—and yet I go on loving her.
Commentary: Book Thirteen Love Poems 3294

Headnote: "Envoy"
This is the envoy to the chōka (3293). Using the clouds resting on the peaks of Yoshino as an introduction, it sings of going on loving a girl seen only from afar. The chōka says that, as rain falls ceaselessly and snow falls at all seasons on Mount Mikane, so he yearns for his beloved without pause. It is a folk-song-like piece of the same pattern as Emperor Tenmu’s poem in Book One, 25 (“on Mimiga Peak in fair Yoshino the snow falls without pause”), and the envoy too takes up that snowy mountain scene.
The poet is unknown. Book Thirteen is built mainly of anonymous chōka and their envoys, and many of its poems preserve the air of old songs and ritual verse.

In the first line, “mi” is an honorific prefix, presenting the pure scene of snow falling on the mountains of Yoshino.
The second line, “Yoshino no take ni,” means “on the high peak of Yoshino,” taking up Mount Mikane in the chōka.
The third line, “iru kumo no,” means “of the clouds that hang still”; up to here the lines form an introduction leading to “yoso ni” (from afar).
In the fourth line, “yoso ni” means from a distance, describing a girl seen without ever exchanging words.
In the closing line, “wataru” means to go on continually, and with the exclamatory “kamo” it laments a long one-sided love.
Source: Manyoshu
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