Kinō kyō kimi ni awazute suru sube no tadoki o shirani ne nomi shi zo naku

昨日今日君に逢はずてするすべの
たどきを知らに音のみしぞ泣く

Roma-ji: Kinō kyō kimi ni awazute suru sube no tadoki o shirani ne nomi shi zo naku
English Translation: Yesterday, today,
not meeting you, my lord,
what I am to do
I have no way of knowing;
I can only weep aloud
Meaning: Yesterday and today I have not seen you, and not knowing what I can do, I can only weep aloud.
Commentary: Book Fifteen Exchange Poems of Nakatomi no Yakamori and Sano no Otogami no Otome 3777

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Poems exchanged between Nakatomi no Ason Yakamori and Sano no Otogami no Otome"
She sings that yesterday and today she has not met him, and not knowing what to do, she can only weep. In the time of not meeting that piles up day after day, it expresses a heart with no recourse but tears. The last line, "ne nomi shi zo naku," is the same as that of 3768 of this book, sung earlier by the young woman, suggesting that her days of weeping go on.
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 two poems are by the young woman"; 3777 and 3778 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, "kinō kyō": yesterday and today, showing days of not meeting going on.
Second line, "kimi ni awazute": without meeting you.
Third line, "suru sube no": "sube" is a means: of the way to act.
Fourth line, "tadoki o shirani": "tadoki" is a means or clue, and "shirani" means not knowing: not knowing any way.
Fifth line, "ne nomi shi zo naku": "ne" is the sound of weeping, and "zo" a binding particle resolved by the attributive "naku" (kakarimusubi). The same last line as in 3768 of this book.
Author: Sano no Otogami no Otome
Source: Manyoshu
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