Nochi mimu to kimi ga musuberu iwashiro no komatsu ga ure o mata mo mimu kamo

後見むと君が結べる磐代の
小松がうれをまたも見むかも

Roma-ji: Nochi mimu to kimi ga musuberu iwashiro no komatsu ga ure o mata mo mimu kamo
English Translation: "I'll see it later,"
so you said, my lord, and tied
at Iwashiro
the tip of this little pine—
shall I too see it again?
Meaning: The tip of the little pine at Iwashiro, which you tied, my lord, meaning to see it later—shall I too ever see it again?
Commentary: Book Two Elegies 146

Headnote: "A poem on seeing the tied pine at the time of the imperial excursion to Kii Province in the first year of Taihō, the year kanoto-ushi"
Looking at the tip of the little pine at Iwashiro that Prince Arima tied intending to see it again, the speaker wonders whether he too will ever see it again, laying the question of his own life over the prince's unfulfilled wish.
According to the headnote, this was composed on seeing the tied pine when Retired Empress Jitō and Emperor Monmu traveled to Kii Province in the first year of Taihō (701). 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 is not named; a note to the headnote says the poem appears in the Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection. Some regard it as Hitomaro's own work, but this is not settled.
With this poem, the group of poems on the tied pine that began with 141 comes to a close.

The first line, "nochi mimu to," means "intending to see it later," taking up "mata kaerimimu" in 141 by Prince Arima in this book.
In the second line, "kimi ga musuberu," kimi refers to Prince Arima, and ru is stative.
The third line, "iwashiro no," names the place in Kii where the tied pine stands.
In the fourth line, "komatsu ga ure o," ure means the treetop. It shares the phrase "komatsu ga ure ni" with 228 by Kawabe no Miyahito in this book, and the two also echo each other as pine tips that recall the dead.
In the final line, "mata mo mimu kamo," mu is conjecture and kamo an exclamation with a question: shall I also see it again? It closes by reflecting on the frailty of human life.
Source: Manyoshu
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