Okuyama no iwa ni kokemushi kashikoku mo toitamau kamo omoi aenaku ni

奥山の岩に苔生し畏くも
問ひたまふかも思ひあへなくに

Roma-ji: Okuyama no iwa ni kokemushi kashikoku mo toitamau kamo omoi aenaku ni
English Translation: In the mountain depths,
on the rocks the moss has grown—
with such awe I hear
that you should ask this of me,
when my thoughts are not yet gathered
Meaning: Like the moss grown on the rocks deep in the mountains, so awesome is it that you ask this of me—though I have had no time to gather my thoughts.
Commentary: Book Six Miscellaneous Poems 962

Headnote: "A poem composed when, in the second year of Tenpyō, the year of the Metal Horse, Ōtomo no Michitari no Sukune was sent by imperial command as envoy to select fine horses"
This poem says that the poet has been graciously asked for a poem but, the request being so sudden, has had no time to gather his thoughts. According to the headnote, it was composed in Tenpyō 2 (730), when Ōtomo no Michitari was sent to Tsukushi as envoy to select fine horses.
According to the left note, on the day the imperial envoy Ōtomo no Michitari was entertained at the house of Governor-General Ōtomo no Tabito, the assembled company urged the post-station envoy Fujii no Hironari to compose a poem, and Hironari, answering their call, at once recited this one. It is a greeting poem composed on the spot at a banquet, borrowing the sanctity of moss-grown rocks to speak of the honor of being asked, and closing on a note of modesty.
The poet, Fujii no Hironari, was an official from the Shirai clan, a lineage of continental descent, who received the name Fujii no Muraji in Yōrō 4 (720). He is known as a man of letters versed in Chinese poetry and prose.

"With such awe" in this poem, like "because I am in awe" in 965 of this book, expresses reverence toward those of high rank, linking the poems on banquets and partings in Tsukushi.
The first line, "In the mountain depths," refers to a mountain deep and remote from human dwellings.
The second line, "on the rocks the moss has grown," conveys the sanctity of long ages. The first two lines form an introductory phrase leading to "with such awe" in the third line.
The third line, "with such awe I hear," expresses the poet's deferential feeling at being asked for a poem by the imperial envoy and the others present.
The fourth line, "that you should ask this of me," uses "tamau," an honorific auxiliary, and "kamo," an exclamatory particle. The sense breaks here, making this a poem with a pause after the fourth line.
The final line, "when my thoughts are not yet gathered," means "though I have not managed to collect my thoughts," with "ae" expressing doing something fully. Adding the reason after the fourth line in inverted order, it shows the poet's modesty in answering an impromptu request.
Author: Fujii no Hironari
Source: Manyoshu
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