Kusamakura tabiyuku kimi o uruwashimi taguite zo koshi shika no hamabe o

草枕旅行く君を愛しみ
たぐひてぞ来し志賀の浜辺を

Roma-ji: Kusamakura tabiyuku kimi o uruwashimi taguite zo koshi shika no hamabe o
English Translation: Pillowed on the grass,
you who journey on your way,
so dear are you to me,
side by side with you I came
all along the Shika shore
Meaning: So dear are you who set out on your journey that I have come along beside you all the way by the shore of Shika.
Commentary: Book Four Love Poems 566

Headnote: "Two poems sent to the post-horse envoys by Ōtomo no Sukune Momoyo, Senior Secretary of the Dazaifu, and others"
In the sixth month of the second year of Tenpyō, Ōtomo no Tabito, Governor-General of the Dazaifu, suffered from a sore on his leg and petitioned the court to summon his half-brother Inakimi and his nephew Komaro; when he recovered, the two returned to the capital. Momoyo and others saw the envoys off as far as the Hinamori post station and, grieved at parting, composed two poems, of which this is the first. So dear is the traveler, he says, that he has come alongside him all the way by the Shika shore.
According to the left note, this poem is by the Senior Secretary Ōtomo no Momoyo.
The author, Ōtomo no Momoyo, was an official of the Ōtomo clan who served under Ōtomo no Tabito as Senior Secretary of the Dazaifu.

First line, "Pillowed on the grass," is kusamakura, a pillow word for "journey."
Second line, "you who journey on your way," refers to Inakimi and his companion returning to the capital.
Third line, "so dear are you to me," joins the stem of the adjective uruwashi to mi: because you are so dear.
Fourth line, "side by side with you I came," uses tagu, "to go along with," and the particle zo: I came along beside you. Shi closes zo, and the poem breaks after this line.
Fifth line, "all along the Shika shore," names the shore of Shika in Chikuzen, giving by inversion the route along which he saw them off.
Author: Ōtomo no Momoyo
Source: Manyoshu
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