Tsukushiji no Kada no Ōshima shimashiku mo mineba koishiki imo o okite kinu

筑紫道の可太の大島しましくも
見ねば恋しき妹を置きて来ぬ

Roma-ji: Tsukushiji no Kada no Ōshima shimashiku mo mineba koishiki imo o okite kinu
English Translation: On the Tsukushi road
the great isle of Kada;
even for a while
not seeing her I long for her,
yet I left my love behind
Meaning: Like the great isle of Kada on the road to Tsukushi, she whom I long for if I do not see her even for a little while: such a wife I have left behind.
Commentary: Book Fifteen Poems of the Envoys to Silla 3634

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Eight poems composed when passing Marifu Bay in Kuga District, Suō Province"
Weaving in the great isle of Kada on the sea route to Tsukushi, he laments that he has left behind a wife he longs for if he does not see her even for a little while. By the technique of drawing "shimashiku" (for a while) out of the sound "shima" in "Ōshima," the island scene before his eyes is joined to his longing for his wife. The great isle of Kada is thought to be present-day Suō-Ōshima in Yamaguchi Prefecture.
According to the headnote, this is one of eight poems composed when passing Marifu Bay in Kuga District, Suō Province, thought to be the coast of present-day Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture. The author is not named.

First line, "Tsukushiji no": "Tsukushiji" is the road to Tsukushi, here the sea route there.
Second line, "Kada no Ōshima": an island thought to be Suō-Ōshima; taking up the sound "shima" in "Ōshima," it serves as a preface leading into "shimashiku" in the third line.
Third line, "shimashiku mo": even for a little while, the briefest span.
Fourth line, "mineba koishiki": "mineba" is the realis of the negative "zu" plus "ba": longing if I do not see her, modifying "imo" in the last line.
Fifth line, "imo o okite kinu": "nu" is perfective: I have left my wife at home and come away, he laments. The line has eight syllables, hypermetric.
Source: Manyoshu
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