Na o to a o hito zo saku naru ide aga kimi hito no nakagoto kikikosu na yume

汝をと我を人ぞ離くなるいで我が君
人の中言聞きこすなゆめ

Roma-ji: Na o to a o hito zo saku naru ide aga kimi hito no nakagoto kikikosu na yume
English Translation: You and I, they say,
people seek to draw apart;
come now, my dear lord,
to the slanders people spread,
never, never lend your ear
Meaning: They say people are trying to tear you and me apart; so, my love, never listen to the slanders they spread.
Commentary: Book Four Love Poems 660

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Six poems by Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue"
Since people are said to be trying to part them, she begs him never to listen to their slanders. Following her irritation at gossip in the preceding poem, she shows a wish to protect their love from rumor.
The author, Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue, was a daughter of Ōtomo no Yasumaro and half-sister of Ōtomo no Tabito. She left many poems in the Man'yōshū and is esteemed as a leading woman poet.

First line, "You and I, they say," means you and me.
Second line, "people seek to draw apart," uses naru, hearsay, closing zo: people, they say, would part us. The poem breaks after this line.
Third line, "come now, my dear lord," runs to six syllables; ide is a call, "come."
Fourth line, "to the slanders people spread," names nakagoto, words spoken to come between people.
Fifth line, "never, never lend your ear," uses kosu, "to do for me," the prohibitive na, and yume, "by no means": never heed them.
Author: Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue
Source: Manyoshu
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