Kaku shite mo aimiru mono o sukunaku mo toshitsuki fureba koishikere ya mo

かくしても相見るものを少なくも
年月経れば恋ひしけれやも

Roma-ji: Kaku shite mo aimiru mono o sukunaku mo toshitsuki fureba koishikere ya mo
English Translation: So we meet again,
just like this, after all—yet
was it only a little,
as the months and years went by,
that I longed for you? Not so!
Meaning: We were bound to meet again like this, and yet as the months and years went by, was my longing only slight? Far from it.
Commentary: Book Eighteen 4118

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "The provincial secretary Kume no Ason Hironawa went to the capital in the twentieth year of Tenpyō, attached to the envoy for the annual reports. His duties completed, he returned to his post on the twenty-seventh of the intercalary fifth month of the first year of Tenpyō Kanpō. Therefore a banquet of poems and wine was held at the governor's residence. At that time the host, the governor Ōtomo no Sukune Yakamochi, composed a poem [with short poems]." "Two envoys."
The poet says that though they were bound to meet again like this, as the months and years went by he missed his friend more than a little. While feeling that the days of waiting were all for this reunion, he looks back on the longing of the time apart, expressing his warmth toward Hironawa.
Ōtomo no Yakamochi was the son of Ōtomo no Tabito, and from 746 he served as governor of Etchū. He is believed to have played a central role in compiling the Man'yōshū, and this book has the character of a poetic diary of his years in Etchū.

First line, "kaku shite mo": "even like this," pointing to the present reunion.
Second line, "aimiru mono o": "mono o" is adversative, "though we were to meet." The poem pauses after the second line.
Third line, "sukunaku mo": "was it only a little?" It corresponds with the rhetorical question at the end, meaning "far more than a little."
Fourth line, "toshitsuki fureba": taking up the passage of time from "last autumn" in the preceding poem to today.
Last line, "koishikere ya mo": "ya mo" is rhetorical, "did I miss you only a little? No, very much." Against the joy of reunion, "mezurashi," in the preceding poem, it sings of the longing of the time apart, so the two poems divide between present and past.
Author: Otomo no Yakamochi
Source: Manyoshu
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