Iwaseno ni akihagi shinogi uma namete hatsutogari dani sezu ya wakaremu

石瀬野に秋萩しのぎ馬並めて
初鷹猟だにせずや別れむ

Roma-ji: Iwaseno ni akihagi shinogi uma namete hatsutogari dani sezu ya wakaremu
English Translation: On Iwase Plain,
pressing through autumn bush clover,
riding side by side—
without even the year's first hawk hunt,
must we now go our ways?
Meaning: Must we part without even riding side by side through the autumn bush clover on Iwase Plain for the year's first hawk hunt?
Commentary: Book Nineteen 4249

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Having been transferred to Junior Counselor on the seventeenth day of the seventh month, I composed poems of sorrowful parting and left them at the residence of the Secretary Kume no Ason Hironawa, envoy to the capital with the annual reports—two poems. / My term of six years now complete, I suddenly meet with the fortune of transfer. The grief of parting from old friends knots up within my heart; how can the sleeves with which I wipe my tears ever dry? So I composed two sad poems to leave behind a resolve never to forget. The words are these"
The second farewell poem left for Hironawa, it laments that they must part without even going on the year's first hawk hunt, riding side by side through autumn bush clover on Iwase Plain. Yakamochi, who loved falconry, regrets missing the autumn's first hunt he had looked forward to sharing with Hironawa.
Iwase Plain was where Yakamochi enjoyed hawking. The left note says, "The above were sent on the fourth day of the eighth month." After about six years as Governor of Etchū, Yakamochi was appointed Junior Counselor and was to return to the capital; he left these farewell poems at the residence of Kume no Hironawa, who was absent, having gone up to the capital as envoy with the annual reports.
The poet, Ōtomo no Yakamochi, was the son of the Grand Counselor Ōtomo no Tabito. From 746 he served as Governor of Etchū, living at the provincial headquarters in what is now Fushiki, Takaoka, Toyama Prefecture. He is regarded as the leading poet of the Nara period and is thought to have played a central role in compiling the Man'yōshū.

First line, "Iwaseno ni" (on Iwase Plain), names the hawking ground in Etchū.
Second line, "akihagi shinogi" (pressing through autumn bush clover): "shinogu" means to push down or through.
Third line, "uma namete" (riding side by side): "namu" means to line up.
Fourth line, "hatsutogari dani" (not even the first hawk hunt): "hatsutogari" is the year's first hawking, and "dani" means "even."
Fifth line, "sezu ya wakaremu" (must we part without it?): "ya" binds with the attributive "mu," closing with regret.
Author: Otomo no Yakamochi
Source: Manyoshu
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