Takashiki no momichi o mireba wagimoko ga matamu to iishi toki zo kinikeru

竹敷の黄葉を見れば我妹子が
待たむと言ひし時ぞ来にける

Roma-ji: Takashiki no momichi o mireba wagimoko ga matamu to iishi toki zo kinikeru
English Translation: When I see the leaves
turned yellow at Takashiki,
the time my dear wife
said she would wait for me
has already come
Meaning: Seeing the yellow leaves at Takashiki, I know that the time my dear wife said she would wait for has already come.
Commentary: Book Fifteen Poems of the Envoys to Silla 3701

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Eighteen poems composed while anchored at Takashiki Bay, each expressing his feelings"
Seeing the yellow leaves at Takashiki, he realizes that the autumn time of return, for which his wife said she would wait, has already come. The beauty of the autumn leaves itself announces the arrival of the promised time of return, holding a lament for a promise that cannot be kept. "Wagimoko ga matamu to iishi" is repeated in 3713 of this book within the same sequence. A left note reads "the above poem is by the vice-ambassador."
The author, Ōtomo no Minaka, was an official who served as vice-ambassador of the embassy to Silla. It is known that he fell ill on the way home and his return to the capital was delayed.
According to the headnote, this is one of eighteen poems composed while anchored at Takashiki Bay, each expressing his feelings. Takashiki Bay lies within Asō Bay in Tsushima, thought to be present-day Takeshiki in Mitsushima, Tsushima City, Nagasaki Prefecture. The first half of the sequence ranges poems by the ambassador, vice-ambassador, senior and junior secretaries, and a young woman of Tsushima, and is thought to have been composed at a banquet.

First line, "Takashiki no": Takashiki Bay in Tsushima.
Second line, "momichi o mireba": when I see the yellow leaves, a definite condition with the realis plus "ba."
Third line, "wagimoko ga": my dear wife.
Fourth line, "matamu to iishi": "mu" is intention and "shi" the attributive of the past "ki": which she said she would wait for, referring to the promise at departure.
Fifth line, "toki zo kinikeru": "zo" is a binding particle resolved by the attributive "keru" (kakarimusubi): that time has come, the poem ends.
Author: Ōtomo no Minaka
Source: Manyoshu
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