Miyahito no yasui mo nezute kyō kyō to matsuramu mono o mienu kimi kamo

宮人の安寐も寝ずて今日今日と
待つらむものを見えぬ君かも

Roma-ji: Miyahito no yasui mo nezute kyō kyō to matsuramu mono o mienu kimi kamo
English Translation: The palace folk,
without restful sleep,
thinking, today, today,
must be waiting, and yet
you do not appear
Meaning: The people of the palace must be waiting without restful sleep, thinking today, surely today, and yet you do not appear.
Commentary: Book Fifteen Exchange Poems of Nakatomi no Yakamori and Sano no Otogami no Otome 3771

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Poems exchanged between Nakatomi no Ason Yakamori and Sano no Otogami no Otome"
She sings that while the people of the palace wait, unable to sleep in peace, thinking today, surely today, he does not appear. Hearing rumors of those pardoned and returning, she expresses her longing for Yakamori's return. In "miyahito" (palace people) her own figure, serving at court, is thought to be overlaid. "Yasui mo nezute" is a phrase also seen in 3633 of this book, a poem by one of the envoys to Silla in the first half.
The author, Sano no Otogami no Otome, was a lady-in-waiting of low rank known as a nyoju, serving in the palace storehouse office; she is also written Sano no Chigami no Otome.
A left note reads "the above eight poems are by the young woman"; the eight poems from 3767 to 3774 of this book were sent by the young woman to Yakamori. 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, "miyahito no": "miyahito" are those serving at court, thought to include the young woman herself.
Second line, "yasui mo nezute": "yasui" is restful sleep: without sleeping in peace. 3633 of this book has the same line.
Third line, "kyō kyō to": thinking today, today, expressing impatient waiting.
Fourth line, "matsuramu mono o": "ramu" is conjecture and "mono o" adversative: though they must be waiting.
Fifth line, "mienu kimi kamo": "kamo" is exclamatory: you who do not appear, the poem ends.
Author: Sano no Otogami no Otome
Source: Manyoshu
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