Nakisawa no mori ni miwa sue inoredomo waga ōkimi wa takahi shirashinu

哭沢の神社に三輪据ゑ祈れども
我が大君は高日知らしぬ

Roma-ji: Nakisawa no mori ni miwa sue inoredomo waga ōkimi wa takahi shirashinu
English Translation: At Nakisawa shrine
we set the sacred wine jars down
and prayed for you, and yet
our great lord has gone to rule
the high sun of the heavens.
Meaning: We set jars of sacred wine before the shrine at Nakisawa and prayed, yet our great lord has gone up to rule the high heavens.
Commentary: Book Two Elegies 202

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Poems composed by Kakinomoto no Asomi Hitomaro at the time of the temporary enshrinement of Prince Takechi at Kinoe, one envoy from a certain book"
Though they offered sacred wine at the Nakisawa shrine and prayed for the prince's life, he has ascended to the heavens all the same; the poem laments with a note of reproach toward the god.
The headnote presents it as an envoy found in a certain book, attached to Hitomaro's elegy for Prince Takechi. A left note, however, citing the Ruijū karin, says it is a poem by Princess Hinokuma reproaching the Nakisawa shrine, and adds that the Nihon shoki records the death of the later prince in the seventh month of the tenth year of Jitō's reign. The author is given as Princess Hinokuma on the basis of the left note, but this is not certain.
The author, Princess Hinokuma, is otherwise unknown; she appears to have been connected with Prince Takechi.

In the first line, "nakisawa no," Nakisawa is a shrine at the foot of Mount Kagu dedicated to the weeping goddess Nakisawame. Grief seeps through the choice of a god whose very name means weeping.
In the second line, "mori ni miwa sue," mori is the grove where the god descends, and miwa is a jar of wine offered to the gods: setting the jars before the shrine.
In the third line, "inoredomo," domo is concessive: though we prayed.
The fourth line, "waga ōkimi wa," refers to Prince Takechi.
The final line, "takahi shirashinu," means "has come to rule the high heavens," that is, has died. It shares the idea of "ame shirashinuru" in 200 of this book.
Author: Princess Hinokuma
Source: Manyoshu
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