Hesokata no hayashi no saki no sanohari no kinu ni tsuku nasu me ni tsuku waga se

綜麻形の林のさきのさ野榛の
衣に付くなす目につく吾が背

Roma-ji: Hesokata no hayashi no saki no sanohari no kinu ni tsuku nasu me ni tsuku waga se
English Translation: As at Hesokata
the alders in the fields
at the forest's edge
cling fast in color to a robe,
you cling to my eyes, my love.
Meaning: Just as the alders growing in the fields at the edge of the Hesokata woods stain a robe and cling to it, so you cling to my eyes, my beloved—I cannot stop seeing you.
Commentary: Book One Miscellaneous Poems 19

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "A poem composed by Princess Nukata when she went down to Ōmi Province, and a poem composed in response by Ido no Ōkimi"
A poem saying that, as alder dye clings fast to a robe, the image of the beloved has burned into the poet's eyes and will not leave. The first three lines form a preface leading to "cling," overlaying the woods at the foot of Mount Miwa on the longing for a loved one. The headnote presents it as Ido no Ōkimi's response to Princess Nukata, but the left note doubts it is truly a response poem and keeps it here only because an older text placed it so. Hesokata is thought to be a place name tied to the Miwa legend of a divine marriage, suggesting a link with the two preceding poems on Mount Miwa.
Ido no Ōkimi is a figure whose life is unknown. Having responded to Princess Nukata's poem, this person is thought to have served at court around the time of the move to Ōmi.

The first line is thought to be a place name near Mount Miwa. The Kojiki tells of a divine marriage in which only three coils (miwa) remained of a ball of hemp thread (heso), giving Miwa its name, and this place name seems to derive from that legend. Its reading is disputed.
The second line means "at the edge of the woods." Stacking no, it narrows the scene step by step toward the alders of the third line.
In the third line, sa is a prefix, and the alders are those of the fields. Their fruit and bark were used to dye cloth. The lines up to here form a preface leading to "cling."
In the fourth line, nasu means "like": as the alder's color clings to a robe. This "cling" resounds in the last line's "cling to my eyes."
The last line means "you who cling to my eyes, my love." Pairing "cling to the robe" with "cling to my eyes" and ending on a noun, it firmly declares the poet's longing.
Author: Ido no Ōkimi
Source: Manyoshu
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