Inishie ni arikemu hito no motometsutsu kinu ni surikemu mano no harihara

いにしへにありけむ人の求めつつ
衣に摺りけむ真野の榛原

Roma-ji: Inishie ni arikemu hito no motometsutsu kinu ni surikemu mano no harihara
English Translation: The people who lived
here in the days of long ago
came seeking here
to rub their robes with its dye—
this alder grove of Mano
Meaning: The alder grove of Mano—where people of long ago came searching, to rub-dye their robes.
Commentary: Book Seven Miscellaneous Poems 1166

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Composed on Journeys"
Standing before the alder grove of Mano, where people of old are said to have sought the trees to rub-dye their robes, the poet recalls the ancients. Through the famous grove his thoughts reach back to the lives of people long ago.
It is one of the poems composed on journeys; Mano is a place in Settsu, thought to be around present-day Nagata Ward in Kobe. The first two lines are nearly the same as poem 1118 in this book, "Did the people of long ago," sharing its turning of thought to the ancients. A robe dyed with alder also appears in poem 1156. The poet is unknown.

The first line, "The people who lived," is the same as the first line of poem 1118.
The second line, "here in the days of long ago," means those who must have lived here.
The third line, "came seeking here," means searching again and again.
In the fourth line, "kemu" conveys conjecture and hearsay about the past: "who, it is said, dyed their robes."
The final line ends with the noun "Mano no harihara," the alder grove of Mano.
Source: Manyoshu
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