Ashigara no yaeyama koete imashinaba tare o ka kimi to mitsutsu shinowamu

足柄の八重山越えていましなば
誰れをか君と見つつ偲はむ

Roma-ji: Ashigara no yaeyama koete imashinaba tare o ka kimi to mitsutsu shinowamu
English Translation: Ashigara's hills
layered eightfold, if you cross
and go far away,
whom then shall I look upon
as you, and so remember you?
Meaning: If you cross the many-layered hills of Ashigara and go away, whom shall I look upon as you, to remember you by?
Commentary: Book Twenty Miscellaneous Poems 4440

Headnote: "Two poems given in farewell by the wives of district officials when Ōhara no Imaki, senior secretary of Kazusa Province, set out for the capital as a delegate to the court."
If you cross Ashigara's many-layered hills and go, whom shall I look upon as you to remember you? The poem sees off a provincial official bound for the capital. According to the headnote, it was given at a farewell banquet by the wives of district officials when Ōhara no Imaki, senior secretary of Kazusa, left for the capital as delegate to the court. The women of the province express their regret at parting from the official in the form of a love poem.
The authors were the wives of district officials of Kazusa, whose names have not come down.

The first line, "Ashigara no," names Mount Ashigara on the border of Sagami and Suruga, a hard stretch of the road from the East to the capital.
The second line, "yaeyama koete," "crossing the layered hills," shows how great the distance will be.
The third line, "imashinaba," "if you go," uses the honorific imasu.
The fourth line, "tare o ka kimi to," uses the interrogative ka, resolved by the attributive mu at the close.
The closing line, "mitsutsu shinowamu," "shall I look on them and remember you?" ends with regret at parting.
Source: Manyoshu
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