Makusa karu arano ni wa aredo momijiba no suginishi kimi ga katami to zo koshi

ま草刈る荒野にはあれど黄葉の
過ぎにし君が形見とぞ来し

Roma-ji: Makusa karu arano ni wa aredo momijiba no suginishi kimi ga katami to zo koshi
English Translation: Though a wild moorland
where men come to cut the grass,
like the autumn leaves
he has passed—in his memory
it is here that we have come.
Meaning: Though this is only a wild moor where grass is cut, we have come here in remembrance of our lord, who passed away like the falling autumn leaves.
Commentary: Book One Miscellaneous Poems 47

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "A poem composed by Kakinomoto no Asomi Hitomaro when Prince Karu lodged on the plain of Aki — short poem"
Though the plain of Aki is only a wild moor where grass is cut, the poet says, we have come here as to a keepsake of the late Prince Kusakabe. Following the sleepless night of the preceding poem, it reveals the purpose of the visit and plainly declares the longing for the lost prince.
Kakinomoto no Hitomaro was a court poet active in the reigns of Empress Jitō and Emperor Monmu, and he is the foremost poet of the Man'yōshū. Though his rank appears to have been low, he left many grand and dignified poems, above all long poems, and later ages revered him as a "saint of poetry."

In the first line, ma is a prefix: "where grass is cut." It is taken as a pillow word for "wild moor," showing an uninhabited plain visited only to cut grass.
The second line, "though it is a wild moor," leads on with the concessive do. Presenting the lonely plain, it points toward why they came nonetheless. The line is hypermetric.
The third line, momijiba no, is a pillow word for sugu ("to pass"), as autumn leaves fall and pass away. The beautifully falling leaves are overlaid on the prince who left the world young.
In the fourth line, sugu means to die, and nishi combines the perfective nu with the past attributive: "the lord who has passed away," meaning Prince Kusakabe.
In the last line, katami is a keepsake of the dead, and the particle zo is answered by the past attributive shi in a kakari-musubi. It declares with force that they have come to this place as his keepsake.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Source: Manyoshu
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