Kimi ga tame kamishi machizake yasu no no ni hitori ya nomamu tomo nashi ni shite

君がため醸みし待酒安の野に
ひとりや飲まむ友なしにして

Roma-ji: Kimi ga tame kamishi machizake yasu no no ni hitori ya nomamu tomo nashi ni shite
English Translation: For your sake, my friend,
I brewed wine against your coming;
on the plain of Yasu,
must I drink it now alone,
with no friend beside me here
Meaning: The wine I brewed for your sake, awaiting your coming, must I now drink it alone on the plain of Yasu, with no friend beside me?
Commentary: Book Four Love Poems 555

Headnote: "A poem sent by Lord Ōtomo, Governor-General of the Dazaifu, to Lord Tajihi no Agatamori, Senior Assistant Governor-General, on his transfer to Minister of Popular Affairs"
When Tajihi no Agatamori, Senior Assistant Governor-General of the Dazaifu, was transferred to be Minister of Popular Affairs and was returning to the capital, Ōtomo no Tabito sent him this poem. Must he now drink alone on the plain of Yasu, without his friend, the wine he brewed to share with him? He regrets parting from a close colleague, a farewell well suited to Tabito, lover of wine.
The author, Ōtomo no Tabito, was a son of Ōtomo no Yasumaro and father of Ōtomo no Yakamochi. As Governor-General of the Dazaifu in Tsukushi, he formed the Tsukushi poetic circle with Yamanoue no Okura and others.

First line, "For your sake, my friend," gives the purpose for which the wine was prepared.
Second line, "I brewed wine against your coming," names machizake, wine made ready to await a guest; kamu means to brew.
Third line, "on the plain of Yasu," names a plain in Yasu District of Chikuzen, near the Dazaifu.
Fourth line, "must I drink it now alone," uses the questioning ya and conjectural mu: am I to drink alone? It closes in the attributive of mu, and the poem breaks after this line.
Fifth line, "with no friend beside me here," gives by inversion the reason for his loneliness.
Author: Ōtomo no Tabito
Source: Manyoshu
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