Tachibana o moribe no sato no kadota wase karu toki suginu koji to surashi mo

橘を守部の里の門田早稲
刈る時過ぎぬ来じとすらしも

Roma-ji: Tachibana o moribe no sato no kadota wase karu toki suginu koji to surashi mo
English Translation: Guarding orange trees,
at Moribe's village there,
early rice by the gate—
now its reaping time is past;
he won't come, it seems, alas!
Meaning: The time to reap the early rice in the field by the gate at Moribe village has passed—it seems he means not to come.
Commentary: Book Ten Autumn Love Poems 2251

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Love Expressed Through the Paddy Fields"
This poem laments a beloved who has not come even after the time for reaping the early rice in the field by the gate at Moribe has passed, surmising he means not to come; it closes the group on paddy fields. The harvest of the early rice seems to have been the deadline for awaiting the beloved's visit. The opening "tachibana o" is a preface leading into "Moribe" from the sense of guarding the tachibana fruit.

The first line, "tachibana o," leads into the "mori," guard, of "Moribe."
In the second line, "moribe no sato no," Moribe is thought to be a place name.
The third line, "the early rice of the gate field," names the crop.
In the fourth line, "karu toki suginu," "nu" marks completion: the reaping time has passed. The poem breaks here.
In the last line, "koji to surashi mo," "ji" is negative intention, "rashi" grounded inference, and "mo" exclamatory.
Source: Manyoshu
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