Iwashiro no nonaka ni tateru musubimatsu kokoro mo tokezu inishie omoyu

磐代の野中に立てる結び松
心も解けずいにしへ思ほゆ

Roma-ji: Iwashiro no nonaka ni tateru musubimatsu kokoro mo tokezu inishie omoyu
English Translation: At Iwashiro,
standing in the open field,
the tied pine remains—
like it, my heart stays knotted,
and I think of long ago.
Meaning: Like the tied pine standing in the fields at Iwashiro, my heart stays knotted and will not loosen, and I cannot help thinking of long ago.
Commentary: Book Two Elegies 144

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Two poems by Naga no Imiki Okimaro, sobbing with grief on seeing the tied pine"
He overlays the knot of the tied pine standing in the field on his own heavy heart, which will not clear, and cannot stop thinking of Prince Arima's time.
This is the second of Naga no Okimaro's two poems on seeing the tied pine, and its authorship follows the headnote of the pair. A note reading "details unknown" at the end of the text has been removed from the poem. 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," names the place of the tied pine, as in the preceding poem.
In the second line, "nonaka ni tateru," ru is stative: standing in the fields.
The preface runs through the third line, "musubimatsu," leading from the knotted pine to "will not loosen." Musubi, "tying," and toke, "loosening," are associated words.
The fourth line, "kokoro mo tokezu," means "my heart too will not come untied," that is, it stays heavy and oppressed.
In the final line, "inishie omoyu," omoyu means to come to mind unbidden: the tragedy of Prince Arima's time keeps returning to his thoughts.
Author: Naga no Okimaro
Source: Manyoshu
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