Toshi o hete omoi omoite ainureba tsukihi nomi koso ureshikarikere - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

年を経て思ひ思ひて逢ひぬれば
月日のみこそうれしかりけれ

Roma-ji: Toshi o hete omoi omoite ainureba tsukihi nomi koso ureshikarikere
English Translation: After years have passed,
loving, loving all the while,
now that we have met,
it is the months and days
that have become my joy.
Meaning: Having loved and loved through the passing years, now that we have met at last, the very passing of months and days is a joy.
Commentary: Book Twelve Love Poems II 745

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
The poem says that having at last met after loving through long years, the poet finds joy in the very passing of the months and days. It expresses a heart in which, with a long-awaited love fulfilled, even the flow of time feels a delight. Where the preceding poem, 744, lamented that a short span of days felt like months and years, this poem sings of the joy of meeting after long years, and the two form a pair.
The author, written as "Hitomaro," is Kakinomoto no Hitomaro. A court poet of the Asuka period, he is revered as the sage of poetry and the foremost poet of the Man'yōshū, and he is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets. The Shūishū includes many Man'yōshū poems under his name.

First line, "toshi o hete," means "after the years have passed."
Second line, "omoi omoite," means "loving and loving," repeating the word to show the depth of longing.
Third line, "ainureba," means "since we have met," with "nure" the perfective form of the perfective "nu" and "ba" expressing cause.
Fourth line, "tsukihi nomi koso," means "the months and days alone," with the binding particle "koso" resolved by the perfective form "kere" in the final line. It pairs with the fourth line of the preceding poem, 744, "toshitsuki no goto."
Final line, "ureshikarikere," means "are a joy," the same line as the final line of 722 in this book.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Source: Shui Wakashu
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