Inishie ni arikemu hito mo waga goto ya Miwa no Hibara ni kazashi oriken - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

いにしへにありけむ人も我がごとや
三輪の檜原にかざし折りけん

Roma-ji: Inishie ni arikemu hito mo waga goto ya Miwa no Hibara ni kazashi oriken
English Translation: The people who lived
in the days of long ago—
did they, just like me,
in the cypress groves of Miwa
break off sprays to deck their hair?
Meaning: Did the people of long ago, just as I do now, break off sprays in the cypress groves of Miwa to adorn their hair?
Commentary: Book Eight Miscellaneous Poems I 491

Headnote: "On leaves"
The poet wonders whether people of long ago, like him, broke off cypress sprays in the groves of Miwa to adorn their hair. The headnote shows it was composed on the topic of leaves. Breaking off branches in the cypress groves of Miwa, he thinks of those who must have done the same in the same place long ago, conveying a communion of hearts across time. It shares the word "hibara" with the preceding poem, 490, and answers Mount Miwa in 486 of this book.
The author, written as Hitomaro, is Kakinomoto no Hitomaro. A court poet of the Asuka period, he is revered as the sage of poetry and the foremost poet of the Man'yōshū, and he is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets. The Shūishū includes many Man'yōshū poems under his name.
A poem of nearly the same form appears in Book Seven of the Man'yōshū.

First line, "inishie ni," means "long ago."
Second line, "arikemu hito mo," means "the people who must have lived," with "kemu" the attributive form of the past conjectural auxiliary.
Third line, "waga goto ya," means "just like me," with "ya" a questioning particle.
Fourth line, "Miwa no Hibara ni," means "in the cypress groves of Miwa." It shares "hibara" with the fourth line of the preceding poem, "Hibara no yama o."
Final line, "kazashi oriken," means "did they break off sprays for their hair," resolving "ya" with the attributive "ken."
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Source: Shui Wakashu
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