Yamashiro no iwata no ono no hahasohara mitsutsu ya kimi ga yamaji koyuran - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

山城の岩田の小野の柞原
見つつや君が山路越ゆらん

Roma-ji: Yamashiro no iwata no ono no hahasohara mitsutsu ya kimi ga yamaji koyuran
English Translation: In Yamashiro,
on the Iwata moorland,
through the oak groves there—
gazing on them, are you now
crossing over the mountain road?
Meaning: Are you now crossing the mountain road, gazing as you go at the oak groves on the Iwata moor in Yamashiro?
Commentary: Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems II 1589

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
This is the second poem of the sequence of old poems on journeys. The poet imagines someone who has set out, wondering whether he is now crossing the mountain road while gazing at the oak groves on the Iwata moor in Yamashiro. The headnote gives the topic as unknown and records nothing of the circumstances.
The author, "Shikibu-kyō Umakai," is Fujiwara no Umakai. A son of Fujiwara no Fuhito, he founded the Shiki branch of the Fujiwara and served as Minister of Ceremonial.
The poem appears in Book Nine of the Man'yōshū as a poem by Umakai.
The Iwata moor is in Yamashiro Province, thought to be around present-day Ishida in Fushimi Ward, Kyoto. It is a poetic place name sung together with the autumn leaves of the hahaso oaks.

The first line, "Yamashiro no," names the province and fixes the place.
The second line, "iwata no ono no," means "of the moor of Iwata." The "o" of "ono" is a prefix that smooths the rhythm.
The third line, "hahasohara," is a field thick with hahaso oaks. These trees color in autumn and paint the scene along the road.
In the fourth line, "mitsutsu ya kimi ga," "tsutsu" marks continuing action, meaning "while gazing at the oak field." "Ya" is an interrogative particle.
The last line, "yamaji koyuran," closes the kakari-musubi of "ya" with the attributive form of "ran." With "ran," which conjectures about something out of sight, the poem becomes one of a person left in the capital thinking of the traveler. Where the preceding poem was composed on the journey itself, this one is sung from the side of those who see the traveler off.
Author: Fujiwara no Umakai
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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