Aohata no kohata no ue o kayou to wa me ni wa miredomo tada ni awanu kamo

青旗の木幡の上を通ふとは
目には見れども直に逢はぬかも

Roma-ji: Aohata no kohata no ue o kayou to wa me ni wa miredomo tada ni awanu kamo
English Translation: Over Kohata,
where the green banners flutter,
your spirit comes and goes—
this my eyes can see, and yet
I cannot meet you face to face.
Meaning: I can see with my own eyes your spirit passing back and forth above Kohata, green as banners—yet I cannot meet you face to face.
Commentary: Book Two Elegies 148

Headnote: "A certain book says: a poem offered by the Great Empress when the Emperor of Ōmi lay ill and his illness had become grave"
She laments that she can see the Emperor's spirit passing back and forth over the hills of Kohata, yet cannot meet him directly. The mood shifts from the prayer of the preceding poem to the grief of sensing his spirit drifting away.
The headnote, citing a certain book, says the Great Empress offered this when the Emperor's illness had become critical. Judging from its content, some consider it to have been composed after his death.
The author, Yamato no Hime no Ōkimi, was the empress of Emperor Tenji and a daughter of Prince Furuhito no Ōe, a son of Emperor Jomei. The headnotes call her the Great Empress or the Great Empress Yamato.

The first line, "aohata no," is a pillow word for Kohata, said to liken the lush green trees to banners.
In the second line, "kohata no ue o," Kohata is a place in Yamashiro near Yamashina, where Emperor Tenji's tomb lies.
The third line, "kayou to wa," means "that his spirit comes and goes."
In the fourth line, "me ni wa miredomo," domo is concessive: though my eyes can see.
In the final line, "tada ni awanu kamo," kamo is exclamatory: I cannot meet him directly. The contrast of seeing and not meeting deepens the grief.
Author: Yamato no Hime no Ōkimi
Source: Manyoshu
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