Waga yado no hanatachibana o hanagome ni tama ni zo aga nuku mataba kurushimi

我が宿の花橘を花ごめに
玉にぞ我が貫く待たば苦しみ

Roma-ji: Waga yado no hanatachibana o hanagome ni tama ni zo aga nuku mataba kurushimi
English Translation: The orange blossoms
in the garden of my house,
flowers and all,
I thread as beads for myself,
for waiting would be too hard
Meaning: I thread the orange blossoms in my garden into beads, flowers and all—for waiting until the fruit forms would be too painful.
Commentary: Book Seventeen 3998

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Poems, together with an old poem, four in all, from a farewell banquet for Governor Ōtomo no Sukune Yakamochi, envoy with the tax register, at the residence of Secretary Ōtomo no Sukune Ikenushi on the twenty-sixth day of the fourth month", and also "A poem on the orange tree by Ishikawa no Ason Mimichi"
Because waiting for the fruit would be painful, he threads the orange blossoms as beads, flowers and all—a poem of impatience. This is one of the poems from a farewell banquet held on the twenty-sixth day of the fourth month of 747 at the residence of the Secretary Ikenushi for Yakamochi, who was going up to the capital as envoy bearing the tax register. This poem, however, was not composed at the banquet: it is an old poem by Ishikawa no Mimichi recited by the host Ikenushi. Offered as if answering Yakamochi's "thread your beads," it adds the charm of an old poem to the farewell feast. As a poem on the pain of waiting, it may also be read as conveying love's longing.
The poet, Ishikawa no Mimichi, was an official bearing the title Ason, of whom little else is known.
The left note reads, "The above poem, it is said, was recited by the host, Ōtomo no Sukune Ikenushi."

First line, "waga yado no": "in the garden of my house."
Second line, "hanatachibana o": the orange tree in flower, whose fruit was properly threaded into festival beads in the fifth month.
Third line, "hanagome ni": "flowers and all," threading them without waiting for the fruit.
Fourth line, "tama ni zo aga nuku": zo with the attributive nuku forms a binding—"it is as beads that I thread them." The line is hypermetric (eight morae) and responds to "tama o nukasane" in the preceding poem, 3997.
Fifth line, "mataba kurushimi": "for it would be painful to wait," a mi-construction giving the reason afterward by inversion.
Author: Ishikawa no Mimichi
Source: Manyoshu
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