Miwayama o shika mo kakusu ka kumo dani mo kokoro ara namo kakusō beshi ya

三輪山をしかも隠すか雲だにも
心あらなも隠さふべしや

Roma-ji: Miwayama o shika mo kakusu ka kumo dani mo kokoro ara namo kakusō beshi ya
English Translation: Must you hide Miwa,
the mountain, so utterly?
Even you, O clouds,
might you not have a heart—
should you keep it hidden so?
Meaning: Must you hide Mount Miwa so completely? If only the clouds, at least, had a heart—how can they keep on hiding it?
Commentary: Book One Miscellaneous Poems 18

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "A poem composed by Princess Nukata when she went down to Ōmi Province, and a poem composed in response by Ido no Ōkimi — envoy"
An envoy lamenting that, on the journey to the new capital in Ōmi, clouds have hidden Mount Miwa just as the travelers turn back to gaze at it in farewell, and pleading that even the clouds might have a heart. The long poem wished to keep Miwa in view until it vanished behind the Nara hills; the envoy condenses that wish into an appeal to the clouds. Mount Miwa was where the god of Yamato dwelt, and taking leave of it is thought to have been a rite of parting from the land itself. The left note, citing the Ruiju Karin, calls it the Sovereign's poem on viewing Mount Miwa when the capital moved to Ōmi, and it is dated to that move in 667, the sixth year of Emperor Tenji.
Princess Nukata is the leading woman poet of the early Man'yōshū. Said to be the daughter of Prince Kagami, she bore Princess Tōchi to Prince Ōama (later Emperor Tenmu) and afterward served Emperor Tenji. She is known for the many poems she composed at court rites and on royal journeys, often voicing the sovereign's own feelings.

The first line names Mount Miwa, the sacred mountain of Yamato. The mountain itself was worshipped as a god and, for those leaving the capital, symbolized Yamato.
In the second line, shika means "so," mo intensifies, and ka is an exclamatory question: "must you hide it so?"—a reproach to the clouds. The poem breaks after this line.
In the third line, dani means "at least" or "even": even the clouds, which are not human.
In the fourth line, namo expresses a wish directed at another: "may you have a heart." The clouds are treated as persons.
In the last line, kakusō means to keep hiding, beshi expresses what is proper, and ya makes it rhetorical: "should you keep it hidden? Surely not." Repeating the long poem's final line, it binds the long poem and envoy tightly together.
Author: Princess Nukata
Source: Manyoshu
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