Mikoshiji no yuki furu yama o koemu hi wa tomareru ware o kakete shinowase

み越道の雪降る山を越えむ日は
留まれる我れを懸けて偲はせ

Roma-ji: Mikoshiji no yuki furu yama o koemu hi wa tomareru ware o kakete shinowase
English Translation: On the day you cross
the mountains of the Koshi road
where the snows come down,
me who stay behind in town,
keep in mind and think of me.
Meaning: On the day you cross the snowy mountains on the road to Koshi, keep me, who stays behind, in your heart and think of me.
Commentary: Book Nine Love Poems 1786

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "A poem from the eighth month, autumn, of the fifth year of Jinki, tsuchinoe-tatsu, with tanka"; envoy
The speaker asks one bound for Koshi to think of her, left behind in the capital, on the day he crosses the snowy mountains. Her feeling at parting is entrusted to the harsh scene of the mountain crossing.
This is the envoy to the long poem 1785 in this book. In a woman's voice, the long poem says that though it is hard to be born human, she, born by chance, had thought to live or die as her lord willed; but since he sets out at dawn at the sovereign's command to govern a far province, she who remains will long for him. It is thought to be a poem sending off someone posted to Koshi in the eighth month of the fifth year of Jinki (728).
The author, Kasa no Kanamura, was a court poet of the early Nara period who composed many poems while attending royal progresses in the reigns of Genshō and Shōmu. This poem is taken from the Kanamura Collection, and the left note says it appears among the poems of Kasa no Ason Kanamura.

The first line, "on the day you cross," renders mikoshiji, the road to Koshi, with the prefix mi.
The second line, "the mountains of the Koshi road," looks ahead from the eighth month of the long poem to when snow will fall.
The third line, "where the snows come down," pictures the crossing day.
The fourth line, "me who stay behind in town," echoes the long poem's "remaining behind."
The final line, "keep in mind and think of me," uses se, the imperative of the honorific su, making a respectful request.
Author: Kasa no Kanamura (from the Kanamura Collection)
Source: Manyoshu
Prev Poem: Watatsumi no izure no kami o inoraba ka yukusa mo kusa mo fune no hayakemu
Next Poem: Furuyama yu tada ni miwatasu miyako ni zo i mo nezu kouru tōku aranaku ni