Masurao no satsuya tabasami tachimukai iru matokata wa miru ni sayakeshi

大丈夫のさつ矢手挟み立ち向ひ
射る円方は見るにさやけし

Roma-ji: Masurao no satsuya tabasami tachimukai iru matokata wa miru ni sayakeshi
English Translation: The brave warrior
grips the hunting arrows tight
and stands to face it—
at Matokata, his target,
how clear and bright the view!
Meaning: Like the target a stalwart hunter faces, arrows gripped in hand, Matokata Bay is a clear and refreshing sight to behold.
Commentary: Book One Miscellaneous Poems 61

Headnote: "A poem composed by Toneri no Otome while attending the royal journey"
Attending a royal journey, Toneri no Otome praises the clear beauty of Matokata Bay in Ise. The first three lines depict a brave man shooting arrows, and the skillful preface that passes from his target (mato) to the homophonous place name Matokata makes this a bright, refreshing poem in praise of the land. The headnote gives no date, but from its placement some think it was composed when Retired Empress Jitō's journey to Mikawa in 702 passed through Ise.
Toneri no Otome is a woman whose life is unknown. She is thought to have come from the Toneri clan, and the Man'yōshū also preserves an exchange of poems between her and Prince Toneri.

The first line, masurao no, "of the brave man," calls up the figure of a hunter.
In the second line, satsuya are hunting arrows and tabasamu means to grip in the hand, concretely picturing the archer with arrows in hand.
The third line, "facing it," continues in a continuative form. The first three lines form a preface that, through "the target he shoots," leads to the homophonous Matokata.
The fourth line pivots from iru mato, "the target he shoots," to the place name Matokata, a bay in Ise Province thought to lie in the east of present-day Matsusaka, Mie Prefecture.
In the last line, sayakeshi means clear and fresh: "refreshing to behold." Turning from the tension of the martial preface, it closes in praise of the landscape's purity.
Author: Toneri no Otome
Source: Manyoshu
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