I sent this in parting to a court lady who had served me closely, when she said she was going to a distant province.

山とほみ雲ゐにかりのこえていなば我のみひとりねにやなかなん

yama tōmi kumoi ni kari no koeteinaba ware nomi hitori ne ni ya nakanan

Distant the mountains, where Within the clouds, the geese Pass over—should you, too, then Will I, alone, simply Be left to sob out my cries?[i]

604

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[i] See: 朝霞　蒙山乎　越而去者　吾波将恋奈　至于相日 asagasumi / tanabiku yama o / koete’inaba / are wa koimu na / awamu hi made ni ‘The morning haze / Trailed mountains / Should you pass beyond, then / Will I ever yearn for you / Until the day we meet once more…’ (Man’yōshū XII: 3188)