Momo tarazu yasokumasaka ni tamuke seba suginishi hito ni kedashi awamu kamo

百足らず八十隈坂に手向けせば
過ぎにし人にけだし逢はむかも

Roma-ji: Momo tarazu yasokumasaka ni tamuke seba suginishi hito ni kedashi awamu kamo
English Translation: Not quite a hundred,
on the slope of eighty bends,
if I make offering,
with the one who has passed on
might I meet again, perhaps?
Meaning: If I make an offering on the slope of eighty bends, might I perhaps meet again the one who has passed away?
Commentary: Book Three Elegies 427

Headnote: "A poem composed by Osakabe no Tarumaro when Taguchi no Hiromaro died"
The poem mourns the death of Taguchi no Hiromaro. If he makes an offering to the god of the slope with its many bends, might he perhaps meet the one who has passed away? he wonders, longing to see him again. The slope of eighty bends was thought to lie at the border between this world and the next, suggesting the road to the land of the dead. Taguchi no Hiromaro is otherwise unknown.
The poet, Osakabe no Tarumaro, was an official of the early Nara period, but nothing more is known of him.

First line "Not quite a hundred" is a pillow word for yaso, "eighty."
Second line "on the slope of eighty bends": a slope with many turns, thought to lead to the other world.
Third line "if I make offering": tamuke is making an offering to the god of a pass or slope.
Fourth line "with the one who has passed on" refers to the dead.
Fifth line "might I meet again, perhaps": kedashi means "perhaps," ending on a faint hope.
Author: Osakabe no Tarumaro
Source: Manyoshu
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