Iwashiro no hamamatsu ga e o hikimusubi masakiku araba mata kaerimimu

磐白の浜松が枝を引き結び
ま幸くあらばまた帰り見む

Roma-ji: Iwashiro no hamamatsu ga e o hikimusubi masakiku araba mata kaerimimu
English Translation: At Iwashiro
I pull and tie together
the beach pine's branches;
if fortune lets me live on,
I will come back and see them.
Meaning: At Iwashiro I draw together and tie the branches of the beach pine. If I am granted safety, I will return and see them again.
Commentary: Book Two Elegies 141

Headnote: "Two poems by Prince Arima, grieving over himself, when he tied together the branches of a pine"
Arrested on a charge of treason and being escorted to the hot springs of Muro in Kii, the prince ties the branches of a pine on the beach at Iwashiro, praying that he may return safely and see them again. Tying pine branches was a charm for a safe journey and long life.
The section of elegies begins with this poem, and a section heading, "the reign of the Sovereign who ruled from the Later Okamoto Palace," places it in the time of Empress Saimei. After being questioned by Prince Naka no Ōe, the prince was executed at Fujishiro Slope on the way back and never saw the pine again. A left note after 145 explains that although these poems were not composed at the time of drawing the coffin, they are placed among the elegies in accordance with their spirit.
The author, Prince Arima, was a son of Emperor Kōtoku. In the reign of Empress Saimei he was said to have plotted rebellion at the instigation of Soga no Akae, and he was executed at the age of nineteen by the traditional count.
This tied pine is taken up in turn in 143 and 144 by Naga no Okimaro, in 145 by Yamanoue no Okura, and in 146 from the Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection, forming a group of poems about the tied pine.

The first line, "iwashiro no," is a place in Kii, said to be near present-day Minabe in Wakayama Prefecture.
The second line, "hamamatsu ga e o," means "the branches of the pine by the shore."
The third line, "hikimusubi," means drawing the branches together and tying them, a charm for safety.
In the fourth line, "masakiku araba," ma is a prefix, sakiku means safe and well, and ba is conditional: if I am safe.
In the final line, "mata kaerimimu," mu expresses intention: I will come back and see them. That this wish went unfulfilled is taken up in the poems that follow.
Author: Prince Arima
Source: Manyoshu
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