Futari yukedo yukisugikataki akiyama o ika ni ka kimi ga hitori koyuramu

ふたり行けど行き過ぎかたき秋山を
いかにか君がひとり越ゆらむ

Roma-ji: Futari yukedo yukisugikataki akiyama o ika ni ka kimi ga hitori koyuramu
English Translation: Even two together
would find it hard to pass through—
the autumn mountains:
how can you, my dear, be crossing
over them all alone?
Meaning: Even two together would find the autumn mountains hard to pass through. How, then, are you crossing them now all alone?
Commentary: Book Two Love Poems 106

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Two poems composed by Princess Ōku when Prince Ōtsu secretly went down to the Ise Shrine and came back up to the capital"
The sister worries over her departing brother, wondering how he is now crossing alone the lonely autumn mountains that would be hard to pass even for two.
This is the second of Princess Ōku's two poems seeing Prince Ōtsu off from Ise to Yamato, and its authorship follows the headnote of the pair. Time moves forward to the thoughts after parting, following the farewell scene of the first poem.
The author, Princess Ōku, was a daughter of Emperor Tenmu and the full elder sister of Prince Ōtsu. She served as the high priestess of the Ise Shrine.

The first line, "futari yukedo," means "even if two go together," and pairs with "hitori," "alone," in the last line.
The second line, "yukisugikataki," means "hard to pass through."
The third line, "akiyama o," autumn mountains, suggests lonely, steep mountain roads. Autumn mountains also appear in 92 by Princess Kagami in this book.
In the fourth line, "ika ni ka kimi ga," ka is an interrogative binding particle concluding in ramu in the final line.
In the final line, "hitori koyuramu," ramu is present conjecture: he must be crossing alone just now, as she pictures her distant brother. The contrast of "two" in the first line and "alone" here is striking.
Author: Princess Ōku
Source: Manyoshu
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