Uraura ni tereru haruhi ni hibari agari kokoro kanashi mo hitori shi omoeba

うらうらに照れる春日にひばり上がり
心悲しも独し思へば

Roma-ji: Uraura ni tereru haruhi ni hibari agari kokoro kanashi mo hitori shi omoeba
English Translation: In the gentle glow
of the shining spring sunlight
a skylark rises—
how sad my heart has grown
as I sit and brood alone
Meaning: In the gentle glow of the spring sun a skylark soars upward, and my heart is filled with sadness as I sit alone with my thoughts.
Commentary: Book Nineteen 4292

Headnote: "A poem composed on the twenty-fifth day"
Closing the Three Poems of Spring Melancholy, this masterpiece of Yakamochi's ends Book Nineteen. Watching a skylark soar high on a gently shining spring day, he sings of the solitary melancholy within bright spring: my heart is sad, as I brood alone.
The left note says, "The spring day lingers long, and the skylark is singing. Feelings of sorrow are hard to dispel except by poetry. So I composed this poem to unknot my tangled heart." It is a self-conscious act of composition grounded in learning in Chinese poetry and prose.
The left note further states that all poems in this book whose author is not named, recording only the date, place, and circumstances, are by Ōtomo no Yakamochi, showing that Book Nineteen has the character of Yakamochi's poetic diary. The bright spring of the opening poem, 4139, and the spring melancholy at the end answer each other and close the book.
The poet, Ōtomo no Yakamochi, was the son of the Grand Counselor Ōtomo no Tabito. Appointed Junior Counselor in 751, he returned from Etchū to the capital at Heijō-kyō, where he took part in court banquets as an official. He is thought to have played a central role in compiling the Man'yōshū.

First line, "uraura ni" (gently, serenely), describes the sun shining calmly on a tranquil spring day.
Second line, "tereru haruhi ni" (in the shining spring sun), depicts the bright scene.
Third line, "hibari agari" (a skylark rises), is hypermetric; the brightness and upward motion contrast with the sinking heart of the lower verse.
Fourth line, "kokoro kanashi mo" (my heart is sad): "mo" is exclamatory; the poem pauses here.
Fifth line, "hitori shi omoeba" (as I brood alone): "shi" is emphatic, and the reason for the sorrow comes last by inversion.
Author: Otomo no Yakamochi
Source: Manyoshu
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