Takamato no nobe hau kuzu no sue tsui ni chiyo ni wasuremu waga ōkimi kamo

高円の野辺延ふ葛の末つひに
千代に忘れむ我が大君かも

Roma-ji: Takamato no nobe hau kuzu no sue tsui ni chiyo ni wasuremu waga ōkimi kamo
English Translation: Like the kudzu vine
creeping on Takamato's fields
reaching far ahead,
at the end of a thousand years
could we forget our great lord?
Meaning: Like the tips of the kudzu creeping far across the fields of Takamato, even at the end of a thousand ages, could we forget our great lord?
Commentary: Book Twenty Miscellaneous Poems 4508

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Five poems composed as each, moved by the mood, thought of the site of the detached palace at Takamato."
Like kudzu tips creeping far over Takamato's fields, even after a thousand ages could we forget our great lord? A poem of everlasting remembrance for Emperor Shōmu. The left note attributes it to the host, Nakatomi no Kiyomaro. Taking up "could we forget his name?" in the preceding poem, it lays the length of remembrance over the long-reaching vines.
The author, Nakatomi no Kiyomaro, a son of Nakatomi no Omimaro, was at this time Senior Assistant Minister of Ceremonial.

The first line, "Takamato no," opens with Takamato like the two poems before.
The second line, "nobe hau kuzu no," "the kudzu creeping on the fields": the first two lines form a preface leading to sue, "tip."
The third line, "sue tsui ni," turns from the vine's tip to "in the end, at last."
The fourth line, "chiyo ni wasuremu," "would we forget after a thousand ages?" forms a rhetorical question with kamo at the close.
The closing line, "waga ōkimi kamo," "our great lord," with kamo of rhetorical question: we never would. It answers the last line of the preceding poem.
Author: Nakatomi no Kiyomaro
Source: Manyoshu
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