Chirihiji no kazu ni mo aranu ware yue ni omoiwaburamu imo ga kanashisa

塵泥の数にもあらぬ我れゆゑに
思ひわぶらむ妹がかなしさ

Roma-ji: Chirihiji no kazu ni mo aranu ware yue ni omoiwaburamu imo ga kanashisa
English Translation: One no more worth counting
than the dust and mud,
for such as I,
how my love must grieve;
how dear and sad she is
Meaning: For one like me, worth no more than dust and mud, my wife must be grieving; how dear and pitiable she is.
Commentary: Book Fifteen Exchange Poems of Nakatomi no Yakamori and Sano no Otogami no Otome 3727

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Poems exchanged between Nakatomi no Ason Yakamori and Sano no Otogami no Otome"
Yakamori's poem cherishing his wife, who must be grieving for him, a man as worthless as dust and mud. Belittling himself as one exiled for an offense, he folds in both remorse and love toward the wife who suffers on his account. Answering the young woman's parting poems, it is placed as the first poem from Yakamori's side.
The author, Nakatomi no Yakamori, was a son of Nakatomi no Azumahito, from the Nakatomi clan in charge of the rites of the gods. He was exiled to Echizen Province for an offense, but was later pardoned and returned to the capital.
A left note reads "the above four poems were composed by Nakatomi no Ason Yakamori on setting out on the road"; the four poems from 3727 to 3730 of this book were made by Yakamori on the way to his place of exile. The latter half of this book contains sixty-three poems exchanged between Nakatomi no Yakamori and Sano no Otogami no Otome. According to the book's table of contents, when Yakamori took as his wife the young woman, a lady-in-waiting of the palace storehouse office, he was exiled to Echizen Province by imperial decree. The place of exile is thought to be Ajimano in Echizen, near present-day Echizen City, Fukui Prefecture.

First line, "chirihiji no": "chirihiji" is dust and mud, likening worthlessness and leading into "kazu ni mo aranu" in the second line.
Second line, "kazu ni mo aranu": not worth counting, belittling himself as one who has committed an offense.
Third line, "ware yue ni": for the sake of such as I.
Fourth line, "omoiwaburamu": "omoiwabu" means to grieve and pine, and "ramu" conjectures a present matter out of sight: she must be grieving.
Fifth line, "imo ga kanashisa": "kanashi" means dear, touching the heart with sad tenderness; ending on a noun, it strongly expresses his tenderness for his wife.
Author: Nakatomi no Yakamori
Source: Manyoshu
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