Omochichi mo tsuma mo kodomo mo takadaka ni komu to machikemu hito no kanashisa

母父も妻も子どもも高々に
来むと待ちけむ人の悲しさ

Roma-ji: Omochichi mo tsuma mo kodomo mo takadaka ni komu to machikemu hito no kanashisa
English Translation: Mother, father, too,
his wife and his children, all
standing on tiptoe
must have waited for his return—
how sad, the fate of this man
Meaning: His mother and father, his wife and children must have waited on tiptoe for him to come home—how sad is this man’s fate.
Commentary: Book Thirteen Elegies 3337

Headnote: "Envoy"
This is the envoy to the chōka (3336). Seeing the body of a traveler fallen on the shore, the poet thinks how his family must have longed for his return and grieves for him. The chōka mourns a traveler who died on the road: by a sea where birds cry, with a high mountain as his screen and the offshore seaweed as his pillow, he lies there and gives no answer when asked his home or his name. The variant envoy 3340 is identical except that “must have waited” becomes “must be waiting,” and the difference between past and present conjecture reveals a different angle on mourning the dead.
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.

The first line, “omochichi mo,” means “mother and father too,” beginning a list of the family one by one; naming the mother first is an old usage.
The second line, “tsuma mo kodomo mo,” means “his wife and children too,” the repeated “mo” stressing how many were waiting.
The third line, “takadaka ni,” describes waiting eagerly, as if standing on tiptoe.
In the fourth line, “kemu” is a past conjectural: “they must have waited for him to come,” imagining the family’s hopes already past. In 3340 it reads “matsuramu.”
The closing line, “hito no kanashisa,” means “the sorrow of this man,” ending on a noun to leave deep compassion for the dead.
Source: Manyoshu
Prev Poem: Tawakoto ka hito no iitsuru tama no o no nagaku to kimi wa iiteshi mono o
Next Poem: Ashihiki no yamaji wa yukamu kaze fukeba nami no sasauru umiji wa yukaji