Kimi kozu wa katami ni semu to wa ga futari ueshi matsu no ki kimi o machiidemu

君来ずは形見にせむと我がふたり
植ゑし松の木君を待ち出でむ

Roma-ji: Kimi kozu wa katami ni semu to wa ga futari ueshi matsu no ki kimi o machiidemu
English Translation: If you should not come,
as a keepsake, so we said,
the two of us
planted this pine, and the pine
will wait until you come
Meaning: If you did not come, we said, it would be our keepsake: the pine tree the two of us planted will wait for you until it meets you.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2484

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Feelings through Things"
The pine tree the two planted as a keepsake for times when the beloved does not come will wait on and at last greet the beloved: so the poem says. Letting "matsu" (pine) echo "matsu" (to wait), it entrusts to the tree of shared memories a heart that awaits reunion.
This is one of the poems "Expressing Feelings through Things," a love poem set upon the pine. From here through poem 2487 of this book, poems on pines follow one after another. The fifth line of the preceding poem, "wa o machikate ni," and this poem's "kimi o machiidemu" correspond in voicing the heart of the one who waits.
According to the left note this poem comes from the Hitomaro Collection, and it is written in the so-called full style, in which particles and similar elements are recorded.
The author is unknown; according to the left note, the poem comes from the Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection. That collection is thought to contain both Hitomaro's own poems and poems by others that he recorded. Kakinomoto no Hitomaro was a court poet active in the reigns of Empress Jito and Emperor Monmu, and is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "kimi kozu wa": "if you do not come." "Zu wa" is the negative auxiliary "zu" with the particle "wa," expressing a condition.
Second line, "katami ni semu to": "saying we would make it a keepsake." "Mu" is an auxiliary of intention.
Third line, "wa ga futari": "the two of us," recalling the day the pair planted the pine together.
Fourth line, "ueshi matsu no ki": "the pine tree we planted." "Shi" is the attributive form of the past auxiliary "ki." "Matsu" (pine) echoes "matsu" (to wait), leading into the "machi" of the fifth line.
Fifth line, "kimi o machiidemu": "will wait for you until it meets you." "Machiizu" means to wait and at last encounter, and "mu" is conjectural. It is a hypermetric line of eight syllables.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection
Source: Manyoshu
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