Aki saraba mitsutsu shinoe to imo ga ueshi yado no nadeshiko sakinikeru kamo

秋さらば見つつ偲へと妹が植ゑし
やどのなでしこ咲きにけるかも

Roma-ji: Aki saraba mitsutsu shinoe to imo ga ueshi yado no nadeshiko sakinikeru kamo
English Translation: "When autumn has come,
look on these and think of me,"
so my love had said,
planting these pinks in the yard—
and now they have come to bloom.
Meaning: "When autumn comes, look at these and remember me," my wife said as she planted the pinks in the garden—and now they have bloomed.
Commentary: Book Three Elegies 464

Headnote: "Another poem composed by Yakamochi on seeing the pinks by the stone pavement"
The poet composed this on seeing pinks blooming by the stone pavement under the eaves. His late wife had planted them, saying, "When autumn comes, look at these and remember me," and now they have bloomed—he grieves, seeing the departed in the flowers she left. Her words, as though she had foreseen her own death, make it all the more poignant.
This belongs to a sequence of elegies that Ōtomo no Yakamochi composed from the sixth month of summer into autumn in Tenpyō 11 (739), mourning his late concubine.
The poet, Ōtomo no Yakamochi, was a son of Ōtomo no Tabito and a Nara-period official. He served as Governor of Etchū and of Inaba, among other posts, rose to Middle Counselor, and died in Enryaku 4 (785). He is thought to have been deeply involved in compiling the Man'yōshū.

First line "When autumn has come" states the time.
Second line "look on these and think of me" quotes his wife's words.
Third line "so my love had said" ("my wife planted") has one syllable too many.
Fourth line "planting these pinks in the yard" names the pinks in the garden.
Fifth line "and now they have come to bloom" ends with emotion at the flowers blooming as she said.
Author: Otomo no Yakamochi
Source: Manyoshu
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