Shiratama o te ni torimoshite miru nosu mo ie naru imo o mata mite momo ya

白玉を手に取り持して見るのすも
家なる妹をまた見てももや

Roma-ji: Shiratama o te ni torimoshite miru nosu mo ie naru imo o mata mite momo ya
English Translation: As one holds a pearl,
a white jewel, in one's hand
and gazes at it,
so my wife who waits at home
I would see once more again
Meaning: As one holds a white pearl in one's hand to gaze at it, so I long to look once more upon my wife at home.
Commentary: Book Twenty Frontier Guard Poems 4415

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."
As one holds a white pearl to gaze on it, so would I look once more on my wife at home: likening his wife to a jewel, the poem wishes for reunion. It is the third poem from Musashi; the next poem is thought to be by this author's wife, so husband and wife stand side by side. Torimoshite for torimochite and nosu for nasu are dialect forms.
The author, Mononobe no Toshitoko, is recorded as a clerk from Ebara District in Musashi; nothing more is known of him.

The first line, "shiratama o," a white, lovely jewel, refers to a pearl.
The second line, "te ni torimoshite," means "holding it in one's hand."
The third line, "miru nosu mo," "as one gazes": the first three lines form a simile for seeing his wife.
The fourth line, "ie naru imo o," means "my wife at home."
The closing line, "mata mite momo ya," is taken to mean "how I wish to see her again," ending on the hope of reunion.
Author: Mononobe no Toshitoko
Source: Manyoshu
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