Kimi ni yori waga na wa sude ni Tatsutayama taetaru koi no shigeki koro kamo

君により我が名はすでに龍田山
絶えたる恋の繁きころかも

Roma-ji: Kimi ni yori waga na wa sude ni Tatsutayama taetaru koi no shigeki koro kamo
English Translation: Because of you, love,
my name has already risen
like Mount Tatsuta—
and this love that has been cut off
how it grows thick in these days
Meaning: Because of you, the gossip about me has already risen like Mount Tatsuta—and now, though our love has been broken off, it grows ever stronger in me these days.
Commentary: Book Seventeen 3931

Headnote: "Twelve poems sent by Lady Heguri to Ōtomo no Sukune Yakamochi, Governor of Etchū"
Because of him her name is already on people's lips, and the love that should have ended grows only stronger—a poem of longing for a lover who has gone. This is one of twelve poems that Lady Heguri entrusted to messengers from time to time and sent to Yakamochi, who had left the capital as Governor of Etchū. It expresses, through wordplay on the name of Mount Tatsuta, the pain of a love in which only rumor remains and meetings have ceased.
The poet, Lady Heguri, was a woman of the Heguri clan whose life is otherwise unknown. She was one of the women who exchanged love poems with Yakamochi.
The left note reads, "The above twelve poems were sent from time to time by passing messengers; they were not sent all at once."

First line, "kimi ni yori": "because of you."
Second line, "waga na wa sude ni": na means reputation or rumor; their relationship is already known to others.
Third line, "Tatsutayama": a mountain in Yamato. Following on from the second line it puns on tatsu ("to rise," of a rumor), and its sound tatsu leads further to tae ("cut off") in the fourth line—an artful line combining a pivot word with sound repetition.
Fourth line, "taetaru koi no": "of a love that has been cut off," reflecting Yakamochi's departure for distant Etchū.
Fifth line, "shigeki koro kamo": "how it grows thick in these days," kamo voicing emotion. It sings the paradox of a love that grows stronger for being broken off.
Author: Lady Heguri
Source: Manyoshu
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