Takamato no no no ue no miya wa arenikeri tatashishi kimi no miyo tōsokeba

高円の野の上の宮は荒れにけり
立たしし君の御代遠そけば

Roma-ji: Takamato no no no ue no miya wa arenikeri tatashishi kimi no miyo tōsokeba
English Translation: On Takamato's plain
the palace on the high ground
has fallen to ruin,
for the reign of our great lord
who stood there has grown remote
Meaning: The palace on the plain of Takamato has fallen into ruin, for the reign of the lord who once stood there has receded into the past.
Commentary: Book Twenty Miscellaneous Poems 4506

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "In the second month, a banquet at the residence of Nakatomi no Kiyomaro, Senior Assistant Minister of Ceremonial; fifteen poems," followed by "Five poems composed as each, moved by the mood, thought of the site of the detached palace at Takamato."
The palace on the Takamato plain has fallen to ruin, for the reign of the lord who stood there has grown distant: the poem mourns the late Emperor Shōmu. According to the headnote, it is the first of five poems composed in the latter part of the banquet at Kiyomaro's residence, as each, moved by the mood, thought of the site of the Takamato palace. The left note attributes it to Ōtomo no Yakamochi, Middle Controller of the Right. Emperor Shōmu had died in Tenpyō Shōhō 8, and in the decay of the palace he loved, the poet laments the passing of his reign. It contrasts with Yakamochi's poem earlier in this book praising the autumn splendor of the Takamato palace.
The author, Ōtomo no Yakamochi, son of Ōtomo no Tabito, was at this time Middle Controller of the Right.

The first line, "Takamato no," names Takamato, which appears in the first or third line of all five poems.
The second line, "no no ue no miya wa," "the palace on the high plain," refers to Emperor Shōmu's detached palace at Takamato.
The third line, "arenikeri," "it has fallen to ruin," with keri of realization. The poem pauses here.
The fourth line, "tatashishi kimi no," uses the honorific su: "of the lord who stood there."
The closing line, "miyo tōsokeba," "since his reign has grown distant," adds by inversion the cause of the decay.
Author: Otomo no Yakamochi
Source: Manyoshu
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