classic waka stream

秋さらば相見むものを何しかも
霧に立つべく嘆きしまさむ
Roma-ji

Aki saraba aimimu mono o nani shi kamo kiri ni tatsubeku nageki shi masamu

English Translation
When autumn comes
we shall meet again,
so why then
should you sigh so deeply
that it rises into mist
Meaning
When autumn comes we shall see each other again; why then should you grieve so deeply that your sighs rise up as mist?
Commentary
Book Fifteen Poems of the Envoys to Silla 3581

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "The envoys sent to Silla grieve at parting and exchange poems, express their sorrowful feelings on the sea route, and recite old poems suited to the places they pass"
The husband consoles his wife after her plea in the preceding poem, telling her they will meet in autumn when he returns. Taking up her "mist," he answers that she need not grieve so deeply that it turns to mist. The embassy planned to return in autumn, but in fact its return slipped into the following year and this promise was not kept. Read with that knowledge, his words of comfort sound all the more poignant.
The first half of this book gathers the poems of the embassy sent to Silla in the eighth year of Tenpyō (736), arranged in the order of the journey from the departure at Naniwa to the return. A left note reads "the above eleven poems are an exchange," and these opening eleven poems are the parting exchanges between the envoys and their wives before departure. None of the authors is named.

First line, "aki saraba": "saru" means a season's coming round; thus, when autumn comes. The embassy planned to return in autumn.
Second line, "aimimu mono o": "mono o" is adversative: though we are sure to meet.
Third line, "nani shi kamo": "shi" and "kamo" are particles of emphasis and question, forming a rhetorical "why ever."
Fourth line, "kiri ni tatsubeku": taking up "kiri tataba" from the preceding poem, 3580: so much as to rise up as mist.
Fifth line, "nageki shi masamu": "shi" is emphatic and "masu" an honorific auxiliary; answering "nani shi kamo" in the third line, the poem ends rhetorically: why should you grieve so?
Source
Manyoshu
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