Tawakoto ka oyozuregoto ka komoriku no hatsuse no yama ni iori seri to iu

たはことかおよづれことかこもりくの
泊瀬の山に廬りせりといふ

Roma-ji: Tawakoto ka oyozuregoto ka komoriku no hatsuse no yama ni iori seri to iu
English Translation: Is it idle talk?
Is it some deceiving word?
In hidden country,
on the hills of Hatsuse,
they say you have made your hut
Meaning: Is it idle talk, or some deceiving rumor—this saying that you have made yourself a hut on the hills of Hatsuse?
Commentary: Book Seven Elegies 1408

Headnote: none (Elegies section)
The poet asks whether it is idle talk or a deceiving rumor that the loved one has made a hut on the hills of Hatsuse. To dwell in a hut on those hills means to have been buried there, and the poem expresses disbelief at the news of death.
It is the fifth poem in the elegy section. Following the preceding poem, it again says "komoriku no Hatsuse no yama ni"; where that poem sees the dead in the clouds of Hatsuse, this one cannot believe the news of the death. The poet is unknown.

The first line, "Is it idle talk?," asks whether the words are nonsense.
The second line, "Is it some deceiving word?," pauses the poem, doubling the doubt of the first line.
The third line, "In hidden country," is the pillow word for "Hatsuse," the same as the first line of the preceding poem.
The fourth line, "on the hills of Hatsuse," is the same as the second line of the preceding poem.
The final line, "they say you have made your hut," speaks of burial indirectly and has an extra syllable.
Source: Manyoshu
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