Isonokami Furu no yama naru sugimura no omoisugubeki kimi ni aranaku ni

石上布留の山なる杉群の
思ひ過ぐべき君にあらなくに

Roma-ji: Isonokami Furu no yama naru sugimura no omoisugubeki kimi ni aranaku ni
English Translation: Isonokami,
on the mountain of Furu
the cedars stand thick—
not one who could pass from thought
like a passing thing are you.
Meaning: Like the cedars standing thick on Mount Furu at Isonokami—but you are not one who could pass from my thoughts.
Commentary: Book Three Elegies 422

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "A poem with tanka composed by Princess Nyū when Prince Iwata died" — "Envoy"
This is the second envoy to the long poem mourning Prince Iwata. From sugi, "cedar," on Mount Furu at Isonokami, she leads to omoisugu, "to pass from thought," saying he is not one who could be forgotten—her unending love for the departed. The first three lines form a preface built on the repeated sound. Yamabe no Akahito's poem 325 in this book likewise says "not a love that fades away," voicing an unforgettable love in the same turn of phrase.
The poet, Princess Nyū, was a royal of the Nara period, thought to be a woman, but little is known of her.

First line "Isonokami" is a place name in Yamato, used as a pillow word for Furu.
Second line "on the mountain of Furu": a hill near Isonokami Shrine in present-day Tenri, Nara.
Third line "the cedars stand thick": up to here is the preface leading, by the sound sugi, to sugu, "to pass."
Fourth line "not one who could pass from thought": omoisugu means to be forgotten. It is the same line as the fourth line of poem 325.
Fifth line "are you" ends with her unforgettable love for the dead.
Author: Princess Nyū
Source: Manyoshu
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