Narayama no komatsu ga ure no uremu zo wa a ga omou imo ni awazu yaminamu

奈良山の小松が末のうれむぞは
我が思ふ妹に逢はずやみなむ

Roma-ji: Narayama no komatsu ga ure no uremu zo wa a ga omou imo ni awazu yaminamu
English Translation: On Nara Mountain
at the tips of the young pines,
how could it ever be
that with the girl I long for
I would end, not having met?
Meaning: Like the tips of the young pines on Nara Mountain, how could it be that I should end without ever meeting the girl I love?
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2487

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Feelings through Things"
The poem calls up the tips of the young pines on Nara Mountain and, through the sound of "ure" (tips), leads into "uremu zo" (how could it be), declaring a firm resolve: how could the speaker possibly end without meeting the girl he loves? By casting the thought as a rhetorical question, as if to dispel his fear of never meeting her, the poem shows the strength of his love.
In keeping with the headnote "Expressing Feelings through Things," this love poem speaks its feelings through a familiar sight, the young pines of Nara Mountain. The preceding poem, 2486, also sings of young pines, those on the shore of the sea of Chinu, so poems on young pines are placed side by side.
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, "narayama no": refers to Narayama, the range of hills north of the Heijo capital, a mountain familiar to the people of Yamato.
Second line, "komatsu ga ure no": "of the tips of the young pines." The opening through this line forms a preface, repeating the sound "ure" (tips) to lead into "uremu zo" in the third line.
Third line, "uremu zo wa": "how, in what way," a word expressing a rhetorical question. Drawn out from the preface by sound, it is where the poem turns to its meaning.
Fourth line, "a ga omou imo ni": "to the girl I long for." "Imo" is the affectionate word a man uses for his beloved.
Fifth line, "awazu yaminamu": "would I end without meeting her." The perfective auxiliary "nu" in the form "na" and the conjectural "mu" combine with "uremu zo" in the third line to form a rhetorical question: how could I end without meeting her? I surely will not.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection
Source: Manyoshu
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