Mutsuki tatsu haru no hajime ni kaku shitsutsu ai shi emiteba tokijikeme ya mo

正月立つ春の初めにかくしつつ
相し笑みてば時じけめやも

Roma-ji: Mutsuki tatsu haru no hajime ni kaku shitsutsu ai shi emiteba tokijikeme ya mo
English Translation: As the first month comes
at the very start of spring,
just like this we meet,
if we smile at one another,
could the time be out of place?
Meaning: As the first month begins at the start of spring, if we smile at one another like this, how could it be anything but fitting for the season?
Commentary: Book Eighteen 4137

Headnote: "A poem from a banquet at the residence of the secretary Kume no Ason Hironawa."
The poet says that to smile at one another like this at the start of spring, as the first month begins, is a joy perfectly in season. Composed at a New Year's banquet at the residence of the secretary Kume no Hironawa, it expresses as words of blessing the joy of greeting the new spring and laughing with a close subordinate.
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.
The left note reads, "Composed by the governor, Ōtomo no Sukune Yakamochi, on the fifth of the same month."

First line, "mutsuki tatsu": "mutsuki" is the first lunar month, and "tatsu" means the month begins, announcing the new year. Like "unohana no saku tsuki tachinu" in 4066, it begins by announcing the start of a month.
Second line, "haru no hajime ni": the New Year was also the beginning of spring, showing the joy of welcoming the new spring.
Third line, "kaku shitsutsu": "shi" is emphatic and "tsutsu" continuative, "doing like this," pointing to the present banquet.
Fourth line, "ai shi emiteba": "shi" is emphatic, and "te," the irrealis of the perfective, with "ba" means "if we smile at one another."
Last line, "tokijikeme ya mo": "tokiji" means out of season, and "me ya mo" is rhetorical: "could it be out of season? No, it is perfectly timely."
Author: Otomo no Yakamochi
Source: Manyoshu
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