classic waka stream

立ちしなふ君が姿を忘れずは
世の限りにや恋ひわたりなむ
Roma-ji

Tachishinau kimi ga sugata o wasurezu wa yo no kagiri ni ya koiwatarinamu

English Translation
Your graceful figure
standing there so lithe and fine,
if I don't forget,
shall I go on longing so
for as long as I may live?
Meaning
If I cannot forget your graceful figure standing there, must I go on longing for you as long as I live?
Commentary
Book Twenty Miscellaneous Poems 4441

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Two poems given in farewell by the wives of district officials when Ōhara no Imaki, senior secretary of Kazusa Province, set out for the capital as a delegate to the court."
If I cannot forget your graceful figure, must I go on longing as long as I live? The poem voices longing for the departing official. The second poem by the district officials' wives seeing off Ōhara no Imaki, it says that where the preceding poem sang of loneliness after parting, they will never forget his form all their lives.
The authors were the wives of district officials of Kazusa, whose names have not come down.

The first line, "tachishinau," "standing lithe and graceful," praises Imaki's bearing.
The second line, "kimi ga sugata o," means "your figure."
The third line, "wasurezu wa," means "if I do not forget."
The fourth line, "yo no kagiri ni ya," "to the end of my life," with the interrogative ya, resolved by the attributive mu at the close.
The closing line, "koiwatarinamu," "shall I go on longing?" ends with a love that will not end.
Source
Manyoshu
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