Ōkimi wa chitose ni masamu shirakumo mo Mifune no yama ni tayuru hi arame ya

大君は千年に座さむ白雲も
三船の山に絶ゆる日あらめや

Roma-ji: Ōkimi wa chitose ni masamu shirakumo mo Mifune no yama ni tayuru hi arame ya
English Translation: Our great lord shall stay
for a thousand years to come;
and the white clouds too—
from Mount Mifune could there
ever be a day they fade?
Meaning: Our lord will live a thousand years. And the white clouds, too—could there ever come a day when they vanish from Mount Mifune?
Commentary: Book Three Miscellaneous Poems 243

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "A poem by Prince Yuge when he went on an excursion to Yoshino" — "A poem offered in reply by Prince Kasuga"
This poem answers the preceding one. Dispelling the prince's unease, it blesses him: just as the white clouds never leave Mount Mifune, he too will live a thousand years. The cloud that the previous poem set against human frailty is deftly reread here as a symbol of permanence.
The poet, Prince Kasuga, was a royal of the early Nara period, but several persons bore the name and his lineage is unclear.

First line "Our great lord" refers to Prince Yuge.
Second line "shall stay for a thousand years": masu is the honorific of "to be" and mu expresses conjecture. The sentence breaks here.
Third line "and the white clouds too" takes up the "resting cloud" of the preceding poem; mo means "likewise."
Fourth line "from Mount Mifune" repeats the second line of the preceding poem, marking this as a reply.
Fifth line "could there ever be a day": me is the conditional of mu and ya is rhetorical. Firmly denying that the clouds could ever vanish, it assures the prince of long life in answer to the earlier poem's last line.
Author: Prince Kasuga
Source: Manyoshu
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