On hearing that Toki’akira, the Assistant-Governor of Sanuki, had not gone to the house of Koben, in service to the empress.
葛城や一言主もたけからず久米の岩橋渡しはてねば
kaduragi ya
Fitokotonusi mo
takekarazu
kume no iFabasi
watasiFateneba |
Kazuragi Mountain’s
Master of the Single Word
Lacks courage;
For the boulder bridge of Kume
He cannot cross, entirely! |
Sent to a lady when I had heard that another man had written to her while she was in the birthing hut.
うしろめた一言主やいかならむたへまにわぶる久米の岩橋
usirometa
Fitokotonusi ya
ika naramu
taFe ma ni waburu
kume no iFabasi |
Uneasy am I:
The Master of a Single Word
Is up to something…
Our time apart is a rift as in
Kume’s unfinished bridge of stone. |
'Simply moving and elegant'