Iso no ue ni ouru ashibi o taorame do misubeki kimi ga ari to iwanaku ni

磯の上に生ふる馬酔木を手折らめど
見すべき君が在りと言はなくに

Roma-ji: Iso no ue ni ouru ashibi o taorame do misubeki kimi ga ari to iwanaku ni
English Translation: Growing by the rocks
along the water's edge, I'd break
a spray of ashibi,
but no one tells me that you,
to whom I'd show it, still live.
Meaning: I would break off a spray of ashibi blooming on the rocks by the water, but no one tells me that you, to whom I would show it, are still alive.
Commentary: Book Two Elegies 166

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Two poems composed by Princess Ōku in grief when the body of Prince Ōtsu was moved and buried on Mount Futakami in Katsuragi"
She grieves that though she would break off the ashibi blooming by the rocks to show him, the brother she would show it to is no longer in this world.
This is the second of the two poems Princess Ōku composed at the reburial of Prince Ōtsu, and its authorship follows the headnote of the pair. A left note says that this poem does not seem to be a reburial poem, and suggests she may have composed it in grief on seeing flowers by the road on her way back to the capital from the Ise Shrine.
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, "iso no ue ni," iso means rocks by the water.
In the second line, "ouru ashibi o," ashibi is a shrub that bears clusters of small white flowers in early spring.
In the third line, "taorame do," me is the perfective form of mu and do is concessive: though I would break it off.
The fourth line, "misubeki kimi ga," means "you to whom I should show it."
In the final line, "ari to iwanaku ni," naku ni means "though no one says": no one tells me you are alive. It closes by confirming once more her brother's absence.
Author: Princess Ōku
Source: Manyoshu
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