Tsure mo naku karenishi mono to hito wa iedo awanu hi manemi omoi zo waga suru

つれもなく離れにしものと人は言へど
逢はぬ日まねみ思ひぞ我がする

Roma-ji: Tsure mo naku karenishi mono to hito wa iedo awanu hi manemi omoi zo waga suru
English Translation: So coldly, you say,
I went away and left you—
so you claim, and yet
the days apart are many,
and it is I who long
Meaning: You say that I went away and left you so coldly, yet with so many days gone by without seeing you, it is I who am consumed with longing.
Commentary: Book Nineteen 4198

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Two poems sent to a person in the capital"
The second poem sent to Yakamochi's sister in the capital, it replies that though she says the speaker went away so coldly, it is the speaker who is longing, since the days apart pile up. The sister had reproached "you, who so coldly went away," and this reply takes up her very words and turns them back.
The left note says, "The above were composed at the request of my wife, to be sent to the lady who remained in the capital," and adds, "The lady is Ōtomo no Yakamochi's younger sister." Yakamochi composed them on behalf of his wife, Lady Sakanoue the Elder, for his sister in the capital, as replies to 4184 in this book.
The poet, Ōtomo no Yakamochi, son of Ōtomo no Tabito, was serving as Governor of Etchū. These two poems were composed in the voice of his wife, Lady Sakanoue the Elder.

First line, "tsure mo naku" (so coldly), is the same word as in the third line of 4184 in this book, taking up the other's words directly.
Second line, "karenishi mono to" (that I went away), also takes up "karenishi imo o" in the fourth line of that poem, presenting the other's complaint. This line is hypermetric.
Third line, "hito wa iedo" (though you say so): "hito" here refers to the addressee, and the concessive "do" turns toward a rebuttal.
Fourth line, "awanu hi manemi" (since the days apart are many): "manemi" means "since there are many," giving the piling up of days apart as the reason.
Fifth line, "omoi zo waga suru" (it is I who long): "zo" binds with the attributive "suru," closing with the emphasis that the speaker is the one who longs.
Author: Otomo no Yakamochi
Source: Manyoshu
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