Senoyama ni momichi tsune shiku kamuoka no yama no momichi wa kyō ka chiruramu

背の山に黄葉常敷く神岳の
山の黄葉は今日か散るらむ

Roma-ji: Senoyama ni momichi tsune shiku kamuoka no yama no momichi wa kyō ka chiruramu
English Translation: On Mount Se
the autumn leaves lie ever spread;
at Kamuoka
the crimson leaves upon the hill—
is it today that they fall?
Meaning: On Mount Se the autumn leaves lie scattered everywhere. Back home, are the leaves of the sacred hill Kamuoka falling today as well?
Commentary: Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems 1676

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Thirteen poems from the time when the Retired Sovereign and the Late Sovereign made a progress to the province of Kii in the tenth month, winter, of the first year of Taihō, kanoto-ushi"
Seeing the fallen leaves spread across Mount Se, the traveler wonders whether the leaves of Kamuoka in his home of Asuka are falling today too. Laying the leaves before his eyes over those far away, the poem ties the place of travel to the capital.
This is the tenth of the thirteen poems from the progress to Kii in the first year of Taihō (701). Mount Se stands in Katsuragi, Ito District, Wakayama, facing Mount Imo across the Kino River. Kamuoka is the sacred hill of Asuka, identified by some with Ikazuchi Hill and by others with Mount Miha.

The first line, "on Mount Se," names the mountain of the journey.
The second line, "the autumn leaves lie ever spread," pauses the poem; tsune means "without cease."
The third line, "at Kamuoka," names the sacred hill of home, set against Mount Se.
The fourth line, "the crimson leaves upon the hill," repeats "leaves" from the second line, pairing the leaves at hand with those at home.
The final line, "is it today that they fall?" forms a kakari-musubi of ka with the present conjecture ramu, imagining the present scene far away. Like the last lines of 1674, "shall I pass beyond it today," and 1681, "is it today you cross," it begins with "today."
Source: Manyoshu
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