Waga seko ni koi subenagari ashikaki no hoka ni nagekau are shi kanashi mo

我が背子に恋ひすべながり葦垣の
外に嘆かふ我れし悲しも

Roma-ji: Waga seko ni koi subenagari ashikaki no hoka ni nagekau are shi kanashi mo
English Translation: Longing for you, friend,
not knowing what I should do,
outside the reed fence
here I stand and sigh and grieve—
how sorrowful I am
Meaning: Longing for you and not knowing what to do, I stand outside the reed fence sighing—how sad I am.
Commentary: Book Seventeen 3975

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: envoy to a chōka introduced as "respectfully composed in reply," following a letter in Chinese beginning "Yesterday I set down my small thoughts, and this morning I sully your eyes and ears again"
Longing helplessly for his friend, he stands sighing outside the reed fence—a poem lamenting that he cannot visit the sick Yakamochi. This is an envoy to the chōka Ikenushi sent on the fifth day of the third month of 747 in answer to Yakamochi's chōka and envoys. The letter praises Yakamochi's literary gifts, saying that even the fount of poetry of Yama and Kaki looks slight beside them. The chōka consoles him that messengers to the capital never cease, so there is no need to grieve; that the world is fleeting, and there may be comfort in it; and, in the words of villagers, it tells him that maidens picking violets in the spring fields are waiting for him, inviting him to come and see. Though close to Yakamochi's sickbed, he can only think of him from outside the fence, and he voices his frustration.
The poet, Ōtomo no Ikenushi, served as Secretary of Etchū under Governor Yakamochi. A member of the same clan and well versed in Chinese verse and prose, he exchanged many poems and letters with Yakamochi during the Etchū years.
The left note reads, "Fifth day of the third month, Ōtomo no Sukune Ikenushi."

First line, "waga seko ni": an address to a dear male friend, meaning Yakamochi.
Second line, "koi subenagari": "longing and at a loss what to do."
Third line, "ashikaki no": a fence woven of reeds, set as what divides inside the house from outside.
Fourth line, "hoka ni nagekau": "grieving on and on outside the fence," fu expressing repetition. Yakamochi's reply, 3977, answers by taking up this line: "you stood even outside the reed fence."
Fifth line, "are shi kanashi mo": shi is emphatic and mo exclamatory—"how sad I am."
Author: Ōtomo no Ikenushi
Source: Manyoshu
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