Chiyorozu no ikusa naritomo kotoage sezu torite kinubeki onoko zo omou

千万の軍なりとも言挙げせず
取りて来ぬべき男とぞ思ふ

Roma-ji: Chiyorozu no ikusa naritomo kotoage sezu torite kinubeki onoko zo omou
English Translation: Though a thousand times
ten thousand soldiers should come,
making no loud boast,
he would take them and return—
such a man I hold him to be
Meaning: Even against an army of ten million, he is a man, I believe, who would take them without a word of boasting and come back home.
Commentary: Book Six Miscellaneous Poems 972

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "One envoy"
The poem praises the departing man as one who, even against ten million enemy soldiers, would surely take them without uttering a single boast. The long poem immediately before it (971) is titled "A poem composed by Takahashi no Muraji Mushimaro when Lord Fujiwara no Umakai was dispatched as Military Commissioner of the Saikaidō, in the fourth year, the year of mizunoe-saru," and it was presented to Fujiwara no Umakai as he went down to Tsukushi as Military Commissioner of the Saikaidō in Tenpyō 4 (732).
The long poem sees Umakai off as he crosses Mount Tatsuta toward Tsukushi, the land that guards against enemies, and closes with a prayer for his safe return, asking him to come back quickly when spring arrives and promising to go out and meet him when he does. This envoy praises Umakai as a man of surpassing valor and expresses confidence that he will fulfill his mission and return. The left note records that, according to the official register of appointments, Military Commissioners for the Tōsandō, San'indō, and Saikaidō were appointed on the seventeenth day of the eighth month.
The poet, Takahashi no Mushimaro, was a poet of the early Nara period known for long poems on legends and for poems of travel. He appears to have served Fujiwara no Umakai and is thought to have worked under him when Umakai was governor of Hitachi.

The word "man" (onoko) in the final line resonates with the surrounding poems on what a man should be: "a man of valor" in 968, "men of valor" in 974, and "a man" (onoko) in 978.
The first line, "Though a thousand times," together with "ten thousand," expresses an extremely large number, exaggerating the vast size of the enemy host.
The second line, "ten thousand soldiers should come," means "even if it be an army," with "tomo" expressing a concessive supposition. It is a forceful way of saying "however great the host."
The third line, "making no loud boast," means "without speaking out." "Kotoage" is to declare something pointedly in words, which was avoided as an offense against the will of the gods. The line praises the man who accomplishes his task silently, without big words. It has an extra syllable.
The fourth line, "he would take them and return," means "he will surely capture them and come back." "-nubeshi" expresses a strong conjecture that something will certainly happen.
The final line, "such a man I hold him to be," means "I think him a man," closing in the attributive "omou" in response to the binding particle "zo." It states firmly the poet's trust in Umakai. The line has extra syllables.
Author: Takahashi no Mushimaro
Source: Manyoshu
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