Iwatsuna no mata ochikaeri aoniyoshi nara no miyako o mata mo mimu kamo

岩綱のまた変若ちかへりあをによし
奈良の都をまたも見むかも

Roma-ji: Iwatsuna no mata ochikaeri aoniyoshi nara no miyako o mata mo mimu kamo
English Translation: Like the rock-bound vine,
may I once more grow young again,
and, blue-earthed and fair,
the capital of Nara
will I see it once again?
Meaning: Like the vine that creeps over the rocks, might I grow young once more and see again the fair capital of Nara?
Commentary: Book Six Miscellaneous Poems 1046

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Three poems composed in grief and regret over the ruins of the Nara capital [author uncertain]"
The poem asks whether, growing young again as the vine creeping over the rocks sends out new shoots, the poet might once more see the Nara capital as it was in its glory. As the close of the three poems, it holds both a wish that the declining capital regain its former splendor and a lament that this may never come to pass.
These three poems form a sequence lamenting the Nara capital as it fell into ruin. At the end of Tenpyō 12 (740), after a progress to Ise and other provinces, Emperor Shōmu did not return to the Heijō capital but moved the capital to Kuni in Yamashiro Province. The figure of the Nara capital after its people had left lies behind these three poems.
All three poems carry the note "author uncertain" in their headnote, and the poet is unknown.

All three poems place "the capital of Nara" in their fourth line: 1044 has "in the capital of Nara," the preceding poem, 1045, "of the capital of Nara," and this poem "the capital of Nara" as an object, so that by varying only the particle they layer their feelings for the ruined capital around the same phrase.
The first line, "Like the rock-bound vine," refers to the creepers that cling to rocks, and because their tendrils sprout again and again it serves as a pillow word for "ochikaeru," to grow young again.
The second line, "may I once more grow young again," means "becoming young again." "Otsu" means to be rejuvenated, and the same word appears in "the water that makes the old grow young" in 1034 of this book.
The third line, "and, blue-earthed and fair," renders "aoniyoshi," a pillow word for Nara.
The fourth line, "the capital of Nara," is the phrase shared by all three poems; here it is the object of "see," and taking up the laments of the first two poems, it turns the thought toward seeing the capital once more.
The final line, "will I see it once again?" means "might I see it again?" "-mu" is conjectural and "kamo" an exclamation tinged with doubt; repeating the "once more" of the second line, it expresses a heartfelt longing to see the capital of old again.
Source: Manyoshu
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