A ga mi koso sekiyama koete koko ni arame kokoro wa imo ni yorinishi mono o

我が身こそ関山越えてここにあらめ
心は妹に寄りにしものを

Roma-ji: A ga mi koso sekiyama koete koko ni arame kokoro wa imo ni yorinishi mono o
English Translation: It is my body
that has crossed the barrier hills
and now dwells here,
but my heart has gone
to stay close by my love
Meaning: It is only my body that has crossed the barrier mountains and dwells here; my heart has gone to rest beside my wife.
Commentary: Book Fifteen Exchange Poems of Nakatomi no Yakamori and Sano no Otogami no Otome 3757

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Poems exchanged between Nakatomi no Ason Yakamori and Sano no Otogami no Otome"
He sings that though his body has crossed the barrier mountains and is here, his heart has gone to stay beside his wife. By separating body and heart, he expresses that however far apart, his heart is always by her side. Following the lament of not seeing her in the preceding poem, here he consoles himself that at least his heart is not apart from her.
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 thirteen poems are by Nakatomi no Ason Yakamori"; the thirteen poems from 3754 to 3766 of this book were sent by Yakamori to the young woman from 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, "a ga mi koso": "koso" is a binding particle resolved by the realis "me" in the third line: it is my body that.
Second line, "sekiyama koete": "sekiyama" is a mountain with a barrier checkpoint, on the road to Echizen.
Third line, "koko ni arame": "me" is the realis of the conjectural "mu"; answering "koso" in the first line, it continues adversatively: though it is here. A six-syllable hypermetric line.
Fourth line, "kokoro wa imo ni": my heart to my wife, paired with "mi" (body) in the first line.
Fifth line, "yorinishi mono o": "ni" is perfective, "shi" past, and "mono o" an exclamation with an adversative turn: though it has gone to her side, the poem ends.
Author: Nakatomi no Yakamori
Source: Manyoshu
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