Ōhashi no tsume ni ie araba maganashiku hitori yuku ko ni yado kasamashi o

大橋の頭に家あらばま悲しく
独り行く子に宿貸さましを

Roma-ji: Ōhashi no tsume ni ie araba maganashiku hitori yuku ko ni yado kasamashi o
English Translation: If at the great bridge's
foot there only stood my house,
with tender pity
to the girl who walks alone
I would offer lodging there.
Meaning: If only my house stood at the foot of the great bridge, I would lend lodging, with tender pity, to the girl who walks on alone.
Commentary: Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems 1743

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "A poem on seeing a maiden crossing the great bridge of Kawachi alone, with tanka"; envoy
If only his house stood at the foot of the great bridge, the speaker says, he could offer lodging to the girl walking alone. Tender feeling for an unknown girl mingles with the frustration of watching her go without a word.
This is the envoy to the long poem 1742 in this book. The long poem describes a girl trailing the hem of her crimson skirt as she crosses alone the red-lacquered great bridge over the Katashiha River in Kawachi, wondering whether she has a husband or sleeps alone, and wishing to know where she lives.
The author, Takahashi no Mushimaro, was a poet of the early Nara period who is thought to have served under Fujiwara no Umakai when Umakai was governor of Hitachi. He excelled at long poems on local legends and the landscape of the eastern provinces. This poem is taken from the Mushimaro Collection, which is thought to consist mainly of his own works.

The first line, "if at the great bridge's," refers to the bridge over the Katashiha River in the long poem.
The second line, "foot there only stood my house," sets up a counterfactual; tsume means the end of a bridge.
The third line, "with tender pity," uses the prefix ma with kanashi, "dear, moving."
The fourth line, "to the girl who walks alone," echoes the long poem's "crossing all alone."
The final line, "I would offer lodging there," uses the counterfactual mashi answering araba in the second line, with the adversative o expressing regret.
Author: Takahashi no Mushimaro (from the Mushimaro Collection)
Source: Manyoshu
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