Kotoshi yuku niisakimori ga asagoromo kata no mayoi wa tare ka torimimu

今年行く新防人が麻衣
肩のまよひは誰れか取り見む

Roma-ji: Kotoshi yuku niisakimori ga asagoromo kata no mayoi wa tare ka torimimu
English Translation: Going forth this year,
the new frontier guardsman's
hempen robe—
the fraying at its shoulders,
who will take it up and mend?
Meaning: The hempen robe of the new frontier guard setting out this year—who will take in hand the fraying at its shoulders and mend it?
Commentary: Book Seven Miscellaneous Poems 1265

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Occasional Poems"
The speaker worries over who will mend the frayed shoulders of the hempen robe worn by the new frontier guard setting out this year. A wife's concern for the daily needs of a husband bound for a distant post is expressed through the homely image of a fraying garment.
It is one of the occasional poems and is read as spoken by a wife seeing off her husband as a frontier guard (sakimori). The frontier guards were soldiers sent mainly from the eastern provinces to Tsukushi and other outposts. It comes from the Old Poetry Collection. The poet is unknown.

The first line, "Going forth this year," refers to setting out this year.
The second line refers to a newly appointed frontier guard.
The third line, "hempen robe," names a coarse garment woven of hemp.
The fourth line, "the fraying at its shoulders," refers to where the threads have slipped and frayed.
The final line, "who will take it up and mend?", is a kakari-musubi construction in which "ka" is answered by the attributive "mu," carrying the sorrow of a wife who cannot go along.
Source: Manyoshu
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