Uma no ayumi osae todomeyo suminoe no kishi no hanyū ni nioite yukamu

馬の歩み抑へ留めよ住吉の
岸の埴生ににほひて行かむ

Roma-ji: Uma no ayumi osae todomeyo suminoe no kishi no hanyū ni nioite yukamu
English Translation: The stride of the horses—
rein them in and bring them to rest;
at Suminoe
in the clay along the shore
let us go dyed in its hues
Meaning: Rein in the horses and halt their stride; let us go on our way with our robes dyed in the colored clay of the shore at Suminoe.
Commentary: Book Six Miscellaneous Poems 1002

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Six poems from the time of the imperial progress to the Naniwa palace in the third month of spring"
Calling out to rein in the horses and halt their stride, the poet wishes to go on with his robes dyed in the beautiful colored clay of the shore at Suminoe. It is one of six poems from the third month of Tenpyō 6 (734), when Emperor Shōmu made a progress to the Naniwa palace. A note following the poem says, "The above poem is by Abe no Asomi Toyotsugu."
The clay of the Suminoe shore was known as beautiful earth of yellow and red, and was sung of as an earth for dyeing robes. The poem carries a reluctance to leave the land of the progress and a wish to wear its colors as a keepsake of the journey. In Book One, 69, too, the clay of the shore is sung of in the words "I would have dyed your robe in the clay of the shore," and the colored clay of Suminoe was a feature celebrated in poetry from early times.
The poet, Abe no Toyotsugu, was an official of the Nara period belonging to the Abe no Asomi clan.

This poem is placed last in the sequence of six poems from the Naniwa progress, and "Kohama of Suminoe" in 997, the first of the sequence, answers "the shore of Suminoe" here, framing the whole sequence with Suminoe.
The first line, "The stride of the horses," means the pace at which the horses walk. It has an extra syllable and shows the procession moving on.
The second line, "rein them in and bring them to rest," is a command, and the sense breaks here, after the second line. The reluctance to leave the shore of Suminoe becomes a call to stop the hurrying horses.
The third line, "at Suminoe," is the place name Suminoe in the province of Settsu. It is the same line as "at Suminoe" in 997 at the start of the sequence, so that the beginning and end answer each other.
The fourth line, "in the clay along the shore," means "in the yellow-red earth of the shore." "Hanifu" is clay colored red or yellow, or a place where such earth lies, and it was used for dyeing robes.
The final line, "let us go dyed in its hues," means "let us go on, colored by it." "Niou" means for colors to glow beautifully or for a robe to take on a dye, and "-mu" expresses will. The poem closes with the wish to wear the colors of the land and continue the journey.
Author: Abe no Toyotsugu
Source: Manyoshu
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