Komoriku no hatsuse no yama ni kasumi tachi tanabiku kumo wa imo ni ka mo aramu

隠口の泊瀬の山に霞立ち
たなびく雲は妹にかもあらむ

Roma-ji: Komoriku no hatsuse no yama ni kasumi tachi tanabiku kumo wa imo ni ka mo aramu
English Translation: In hidden country
on the hills of Hatsuse
the haze rises up—
the clouds that trail across them,
could they be my love?
Meaning: On the hills of Hatsuse, hidden among the mountains, the haze rises—could the clouds trailing there be my beloved?
Commentary: Book Seven Elegies 1407

Headnote: none (Elegies section)
Haze rises on the hills of Hatsuse, and the poet wonders whether the trailing clouds are his dead wife. Hatsuse was a place of burial, and he is understood to see in the clouds his wife who rose as the smoke of cremation.
It is the fourth poem in the elegy section. The next poem also has "komoriku no Hatsuse no yama ni," so two elegies on the hills of Hatsuse stand side by side. Poem 428 in Book Three likewise sees in the clouds drifting over the hills of Hatsuse the one who has died. The poet is unknown.

The first line, "In hidden country," is a pillow word for "Hatsuse," a land enclosed by hills; it is the same as the third line of the next poem.
The second line, "on the hills of Hatsuse," is the same as the fourth line of the next poem.
The third line, "the haze rises up," describes the haze rising.
The fourth line, "the clouds that trail across them," suggests the smoke of cremation.
In the final line, "could they be my love?," "ka" asks a question and "mo" adds a sigh.
Source: Manyoshu
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