Shiratori no sagisakayama no matsukage ni yadorite yukana yo mo fukeyuku o

白鳥の鷺坂山の松蔭に
宿りて行かな夜も更けゆくを

Roma-ji: Shiratori no sagisakayama no matsukage ni yadorite yukana yo mo fukeyuku o
English Translation: Like the white bird, the heron—
on Sagisaka's mountain slope,
in the shade of pines
let us take our lodging here,
for the night grows late indeed.
Meaning: Let us stop for the night in the shade of the pines on Mount Sagisaka, for the night is growing late.
Commentary: Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems 1687

Headnote: "A poem composed at Sagisaka"
As night grows late on the journey, the traveler resolves to rest in the shade of the pines on Mount Sagisaka. The poem simply voices a traveler's wish to stop on a dark road.
Sagisaka is a slope near Kuse in present-day Jōyō, Kyoto, on the route north from Yamato through Yamashiro. Poems 1694 and 1707 of this book also concern Sagisaka.
The author, Kakinomoto no Hitomaro, was a court poet active in the reigns of Jitō and Monmu. This poem is taken from the Hitomaro Collection, which is thought to contain both Hitomaro's own poems and poems by others that he gathered.

The first line, shiratori no, "white bird," is a pillow word for the heron, sagi.
The second line, "on Sagisaka's mountain slope," names the place.
The third line, "in the shade of pines," gives the spot for lodging.
The fourth line, "let us take our lodging here," uses na to express the speaker's intention, and the poem pauses here.
The final line, "for the night grows late indeed," gives the reason at the end in inversion.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Source: Manyoshu
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