Akane sasu murasakino yuki shimeno yuki nomori wa mizu ya kimi ga sode furu

あかねさす紫野行き標野行き
野守は見ずや君が袖振る

Roma-ji: Akane sasu murasakino yuki shimeno yuki nomori wa mizu ya kimi ga sode furu
English Translation: On the madder-bright
purple fields I go, and go
through the royal fields—
will the guardians not see you
as you wave your sleeve to me?
Meaning: As I walk through the fields of purple gromwell, through the royal preserve closed to all, won't the field guards see you waving your sleeve to me?
Commentary: Book One Miscellaneous Poems 20

Headnote: "A poem composed by Princess Nukata when the Emperor went hunting on the plain of Gamō"
Written when Emperor Tenji held a hunt on the plain of Gamō, the poem gently chides someone who, as the poet walks back and forth through fields of purple gromwell, waves his sleeve to show his love: surely the field guards will see. Waving the sleeve was a gesture of affection, and its maker is taken to be Prince Ōama, who answers in the next poem. Since Nukata had once been Ōama's wife and now served Emperor Tenji, the exchange has long been read as a dramatic love poem. Another influential view sees it as playful verse traded to liven up the banquet after the hunt. The left note, citing the Nihon Shoki, records that a hunt was held on the plain of Gamō on the fifth day of the fifth month of 668, the seventh year of Emperor Tenji, attended by the Crown Prince, the princes, and all the ministers.
Princess Nukata is the leading woman poet of the early Man'yōshū. Said to be the daughter of Prince Kagami, she bore Princess Tōchi to Prince Ōama (later Emperor Tenmu) and afterward served Emperor Tenji. She is known for the many poems she composed at court rites and on royal journeys, often voicing the sovereign's own feelings.

The first line, akane sasu, "madder-bright," is a pillow word for the sun or for purple. Here it leads to "purple," evoking vivid color glowing across the fields. The next poem, 21, begins with "purple," taking up the color word in reply.
The second line, "going through the purple fields," refers to fields where gromwell was grown. Its roots yielded a precious dye and medicine, and it was planted in fields under court control.
In the third line, shimeno are fields roped off from the public. Repeating the "... yuki" of the second line in parallel, it conveys the movement back and forth in a lilting rhythm.
In the fourth line, nomori is the guard of the preserve, and zu ya, negative plus a questioning particle, means "won't they see?" The poem breaks here, inverted with the last line. Some see in the guard a hint of Emperor Tenji himself.
The last line, "you wave your sleeve," ends on an attributive form, letting the inversion linger. The wavering heart that fears others' eyes yet receives the lover's feeling is gathered into this line.
Author: Princess Nukata
Source: Manyoshu
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