Iwashiro no kishi no matsu ga e musubikemu hito wa kaerite mata mikemu kamo

磐代の岸の松が枝結びけむ
人は帰りてまた見けむかも

Roma-ji: Iwashiro no kishi no matsu ga e musubikemu hito wa kaerite mata mikemu kamo
English Translation: At Iwashiro,
the pine on the shore whose branches
he once tied, they say—
did he ever come back again
and see them one more time?
Meaning: The man who, they say, tied the branches of the pine on the shore at Iwashiro—did he ever return to see them again?
Commentary: Book Two Elegies 143

Headnote: "Two poems by Naga no Imiki Okimaro, sobbing with grief on seeing the tied pine"
Seeing the pine at Iwashiro that Prince Arima is said to have tied, he mourns the prince's fate, asking whether he was ever able to see it again.
According to the headnote, this is the first of two poems Naga no Okimaro composed while weeping at the sight of the tied pine. It is thought to date from an imperial excursion to Kii some forty years after the prince's death. A left note 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, Naga no Okimaro, was a poet of the reigns of Empress Jitō and Emperor Monmu who composed poems while attending imperial excursions and was skilled at impromptu verse.

The first line, "iwashiro no," begins with the same place-name as 141 by Prince Arima in this book.
The second line, "kishi no matsu ga e," means "the branches of the pine on the shore," corresponding to "hamamatsu ga e" in 141.
In the third line, "musubikemu," kemu reports the past by hearsay: that he is said to have tied.
In the fourth line, "hito wa kaerite," hito, "the man," refers to Prince Arima.
The final line, "mata mikemu kamo," takes up "mata kaerimimu" of 141 and, thinking of the prince who never returned, asks whether he saw them again. Kemu kamo combines past conjecture and exclamation.
Author: Naga no Okimaro
Source: Manyoshu
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