Ōkimi no mikoto kashikomi ōaraki no toki ni wa aranedo kumogakurimasu

大君の命畏み大殯の
時にはあらねど雲隠ります

Roma-ji: Ōkimi no mikoto kashikomi ōaraki no toki ni wa aranedo kumogakurimasu
English Translation: Our great sovereign's
command he held in reverence;
though the time had not come
for the great rites of the dead,
he has hidden in the clouds.
Meaning: In reverence for our sovereign's command, though it was not yet the time for the great funeral rites, he has vanished behind the clouds.
Commentary: Book Three Elegies 441

Headnote: "A poem composed by Princess Kurahashibe after the Minister of the Left, Prince Nagaya, was ordered to die, in Jinki 6, the year tsuchinoto-mi"
This mourns the Minister of the Left, Prince Nagaya, who in Jinki 6 (729) was suspected of treason and forced to take his own life. Accepting the Emperor's command with reverence, he has died though it was not yet his time—grief for a death of bitter wrong. Because the death came through a political upheaval, open criticism is avoided, yet deep sorrow and regret are packed into "though the time had not come."
The poet, Princess Kurahashibe, was a royal woman of the Nara period, but little is known of her.

First line "Our great sovereign's" refers to the Emperor.
Second line "command he held in reverence" means respectfully obeying the order.
Third line "for the great rites of the dead": ōaraki is laying a noble's body in temporary state until burial. The line has one syllable too many.
Fourth line "though the time had not come" laments a death too early.
Fifth line "he has hidden in the clouds": kumogakuru is a euphemism for a noble's death, and masu is honorific.
Author: Princess Kurahashibe
Source: Manyoshu
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