Mimaku hori waga suru kimi mo aranaku ni nani shika kikemu uma tsukaruru ni

見まく欲り我がする君もあらなくに
何しか来けむ馬疲るるに

Roma-ji: Mimaku hori waga suru kimi mo aranaku ni nani shika kikemu uma tsukaruru ni
English Translation: You whom I long for,
whom I have yearned so to see,
are here no longer—
why is it that I have come
only to weary my horse?
Meaning: You whom I so longed to see are here no longer. Why have I come, only to tire out my horse?
Commentary: Book Two Elegies 164

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Two poems composed by Princess Ōku when she came up to the capital from the Ise Shrine after the death of Prince Ōtsu"
She laments the futility of her journey to the capital: the brother she longed to see is gone, so why has she come, only to tire her horse?
This is the second of the two poems from Princess Ōku's journey from Ise to the capital, and its authorship follows the headnote of the pair. It takes up the fourth line of the preceding poem unchanged, deepening her grief.
The author, Princess Ōku, was a daughter of Emperor Tenmu and the full elder sister of Prince Ōtsu. She served as the high priestess of the Ise Shrine. The headnote writes her name with different characters.

In the first line, "mimaku hori," mimaku is the nominalized form of mimu: longing to see.
The second line, "waga suru kimi mo," means "you whom I long for."
The third line, "aranaku ni," means "when you are no more," taking up the final line of the preceding poem.
The fourth line, "nani shika kikemu," is identical to that of the preceding poem: why did I come?
The final line, "uma tsukaruru ni," means "when it only tires my horse," and by inversion ends on the futility of the journey.
Author: Princess Ōku
Source: Manyoshu
Prev Poem: Kamukaze no ise no kuni ni mo aramashi o nani shika kikemu kimi mo aranaku ni
Next Poem: Utsusomi no hito ni aru ware ya asu yori wa futakamiyama o irose to waga mimu