Wasuramu te noyuki yamayuki ware kuredo waga chichihaha wa wasure se no kamo

忘らむて野行き山行き我れ来れど
我が父母は忘れせのかも

Roma-ji: Wasuramu te noyuki yamayuki ware kuredo waga chichihaha wa wasure se no kamo
English Translation: Meaning to forget
over fields, over mountains
I have come this far,
yet my father and mother
I cannot forget at all
Meaning: Meaning to forget, I have come over fields and over mountains, yet I cannot forget my father and mother.
Commentary: Book Twenty Frontier Guard Poems 4344

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Poems of the frontier guards sent in rotation to the provinces of Tsukushi in the second month of Tenpyō Shōhō 7, year of the wood sheep."
Meaning to forget, I came over fields and mountains, yet I cannot forget my father and mother: the poem sings of thoughts that grow the farther he travels. It is the eighth poem from Suruga, plainly describing the disappointment of a hope that distance might dull his feelings. Wasuramu te is a dialect form of wasuramu to, and se no of senu.
The author, Akinosa no Obitomaro, was a guard from Suruga; nothing more is known of him.

The first line, "wasuramu te," "meaning to forget," shows his resolve on setting out.
The second line, "noyuki yamayuki," pairs fields and mountains to express the long way.
The third line, "ware kuredo," is concessive, "though I have come," turning to the lower half.
The fourth line, "waga chichihaha wa," names again those he tried to forget.
The closing line, "wasure se no kamo," "I cannot forget," ends in the exclamatory kamo. The opening "meaning to forget" and the closing "cannot forget" answer each other.
Author: Akinosa no Obitomaro
Source: Manyoshu
Prev Poem: Waro tabi wa tabi to omehodo ii ni shite komechi yasuramu waga mi kanashi mo
Next Poem: Wagimeko to futari waga mishi uchiesuru Suruga no nera wa kufushikume aru ka