Ōnoura ni katae sashiōi naru nashi no nari mo narazu mo nete katarawamu - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

をふの浦に片枝さしおほひなる梨の
なりもならずも寝て語らはむ

Roma-ji: Ōnoura ni katae sashiōi naru nashi no nari mo narazu mo nete katarawamu
English Translation: At Ō Bay, stretching
a single branch across the shore,
the pear that bears fruit:
whether it bears or it does not,
let us lie down and talk.
Meaning: Like the pear tree at Ō Bay that leans a branch over the water and bears fruit, whether our love bears fruit or not, let us lie together and talk.
Commentary: Book Twenty Poems of the Bureau of Court Song 1099

Headnote: "Songs of the East: Ise Song"
Through a pear tree bearing fruit with its branch stretched over the shore, the singer invites the beloved: whether things come to fruition or not, let us first lie together and talk. It is a lively folk song that moves from the pear's bearing fruit to love's coming to fruition. No author is recorded.
The Azuma-uta, songs of the East, are folk songs of the eastern provinces taken into the court, arranged by province: Michinoku, Sagami, Hitachi, Kai and Ise.

The first line, "at Ō Bay," names a bay in Ise whose location is disputed; the line has an extra syllable.
The second line, "one branch stretching over it," shows the pear tree leaning out above the water; this line too has extra syllables.
The upper lines through the third, "the pear that bears," form a preface leading to "bear or not bear"; naru, to bear fruit, echoes nari in the fourth line.
The fourth line, "whether it bears or not," plays on naru, a pear's bearing fruit and love's coming to fruition.
The last line, "let us lie down and talk," uses mu as an invitation. Like "the dawn after sleeping" in 1072 of this book, it speaks frankly of lying together.
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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