Miwataseba mukatsu o no ue no hana nioi terite tateru wa hashiki ta ga tsuma

見わたせば向つ峰の上の花にほひ
照りて立てるは愛しき誰が妻

Roma-ji: Miwataseba mukatsu o no ue no hana nioi terite tateru wa hashiki ta ga tsuma
English Translation: When I look across,
like the blossoms on the ridge
of the facing hills,
radiant she stands and glows:
lovely one, whose wife is she?
Meaning: As I look out, standing there radiant like the blossoms on the ridge across the way, who is that lovely woman, whose wife is she?
Commentary: Book Twenty Miscellaneous Poems 4397

Headnote: "A poem composed while standing at the gate of my lodgings, on seeing a beautiful woman south of the inlet."
Standing there radiant like the blossoms on the facing ridge, who is she, whose lovely wife? The poem is drawn to a beautiful woman across the water. The left note says it closes the three poems composed by Ōtomo no Yakamochi on the seventeenth day of the second month. According to the headnote, he was standing at the gate of his lodgings and saw her south of the inlet. With a headnote recalling the "beauty south of the river" of Chinese verse, it has the air of enjoying refined pleasures while away.
The author, Ōtomo no Yakamochi, son of Ōtomo no Tabito, was at this time Junior Assistant Minister of Military Affairs.

The first line, "miwataseba," "when I look out," leads into the wide view.
The second line, "mukatsu o no ue no," hypermetric, means "on the ridge across the way."
The third line, "hana nioi," "blossoms glowing," likens the woman's form to flowers.
The fourth line, "terite tateru wa," means "she who stands there shining."
The closing line, "hashiki ta ga tsuma," hypermetric, ends on a noun: lovely, whose wife? It is full of his attraction to her.
Author: Otomo no Yakamochi
Source: Manyoshu
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