Utsuriyuku toki miru goto ni kokoro itaku mukashi no hito shi omōyuru kamo

移り行く時見るごとに心痛く
昔の人し思ほゆるかも

Roma-ji: Utsuriyuku toki miru goto ni kokoro itaku mukashi no hito shi omōyuru kamo
English Translation: Each time that I see
how the times keep changing on,
my heart aches within,
and the people of the past
come so strongly to my mind
Meaning: Whenever I see how the times are changing, my heart aches, and the people of the past come back to my mind.
Commentary: Book Twenty Miscellaneous Poems 4483

Headnote: "On the twenty-third day of the sixth month of Shōhō 9, a banquet at the residence of Prince Mikata, Chief Inspector of the Treasuries; one poem."
Whenever I see the times changing, my heart aches and the people of the past come to mind: a poem lamenting the world's changes. According to the headnote, it comes from a banquet at the residence of Prince Mikata, Chief Inspector of the Treasuries, on the twenty-third of the sixth month of Tenpyō Shōhō 9 (757). The left note attributes it to Ōtomo no Yakamochi, Senior Assistant Minister of Military Affairs. That year Tachibana no Moroe died and soon the Tachibana no Naramaro conspiracy broke out, a time of great political upheaval, and the poem is thought to carry his anxiety over such times.
The author, Ōtomo no Yakamochi, son of Ōtomo no Tabito, was at this time Senior Assistant Minister of Military Affairs.

The first line, "utsuriyuku," "passing and changing," shows the shifting times.
The second line, "toki miru goto ni," means "each time I see the state of the times."
The third line, "kokoro itaku," "my heart aching," expresses the depth of his concern.
The fourth line, "mukashi no hito shi," with the intensifier shi, "the people of the past," is read as referring to those now gone.
The closing line, "omōyuru kamo," "they come to mind," ends in the exclamatory kamo. The next two poems also sing of the passing of things, continuing the sense of impermanence.
Author: Otomo no Yakamochi
Source: Manyoshu
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