Kore ya kono yamato ni shite wa aga kouru kiji ni ari to iu na ni ou se no yama

これやこの大和にしては我が恋ふる
紀路にありといふ名に負ふ背の山

Roma-ji: Kore ya kono yamato ni shite wa aga kouru kiji ni ari to iu na ni ou se no yama
English Translation: Is this it, the one
that while still in Yamato
I so yearned to see—
upon the road to Kii,
Se Hill, that bears "husband's" name?
Meaning: So this is it—the mountain I longed for while still in Yamato, said to stand on the road to Kii: Se Hill, bearing the name that means "husband."
Commentary: Book One Miscellaneous Poems 35

Headnote: "A poem composed by Princess Ahe when crossing Se Hill"
Crossing Se Hill on a journey to Kii, the poet at last sees the mountain she had heard of and been drawn to since her days in Yamato—the mountain whose name, se, means "husband." Her husband, Prince Kusakabe, had already died, and she seems to overlay her longing for him on the name. It is thought to date from the royal journey to Kii in 690, the fourth year of Empress Jitō.
Princess Ahe was a daughter of Emperor Tenji and the consort of Prince Kusakabe. Mother of Emperor Monmu and Empress Genshō, she later took the throne herself as Empress Genmei and moved the capital to Heijō.

The first line, kore ya kono, "is this it," uses ya as a particle of wondering exclamation. It conveys the surprise and emotion of seeing for the first time something long heard of.
The second line, "while in Yamato," uses shite to mark place, looking back on her days in Yamato before the journey.
The third line, "that I yearned for," continues in the attributive. Longing for her late husband is overlaid on her longing for the hill.
The fourth line, "said to stand on the road to Kii," shows that she knew it by hearsay. The line is hypermetric.
The last line means "Se Hill, which bears the name 'husband.'" Se Hill stands in present-day Katsuragi, Ito District, Wakayama, and is said to face Imo Hill ("wife hill") across the Ki River. This line too is hypermetric, and ending on a noun, the poem closes full of feeling.
Author: Princess Ahe
Source: Manyoshu
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