Kotodama no yaso no chimata ni yūke tou ura masa ni noru imo wa aiyoramu

言霊の八十の街に夕占問ふ
占まさに告る妹は相寄らむ

Roma-ji: Kotodama no yaso no chimata ni yūke tou ura masa ni noru imo wa aiyoramu
English Translation: Where word spirits dwell,
at the crossing of eighty roads,
I asked the evening
oracle, and it clearly told:
my girl will come to my side
Meaning: At the crossroads where eighty ways meet and the spirit of words dwells, I sought an evening oracle, and it told me plainly: your beloved will draw near to you.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2506

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Feelings through Things"
Standing at a crossroads where the power of words was believed to dwell, the speaker sought an evening oracle and rejoices that it told him plainly his beloved would draw near to him. It shows the ancient faith that entrusted love's outcome to divination, and the lift of the heart at receiving a good omen.
This poem speaks through the custom of the evening oracle, in which one stood at a crossroads at dusk and read fortune from the words of passersby. The next poem, 2507, likewise tells of a roadside oracle declaring that he will meet his beloved, so two poems on divination are placed together.
The author is unknown; according to the left note, the poem comes from the Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection. That collection is thought to contain both Hitomaro's own poems and poems by others that he recorded. Kakinomoto no Hitomaro was a court poet active in the reigns of Empress Jito and Emperor Monmu, and is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "kotodama no": "of the spirit of words." Words were believed to hold power to move reality, and the line shows that this divination works through words.
Second line, "yaso no chimata ni": "at the crossroads of eighty ways." "Yaso" (eighty) means a great number, and "chimata" is a place where roads branch, a crossroads. Crossroads where people came and went were held to be places for divination.
Third line, "yūke tou": "I sought the evening oracle," the custom of standing at a crossroads at dusk and reading fortune from the words of passersby.
Fourth line, "ura masa ni noru": "the oracle declares truly." "Masa ni" means clearly, surely, stressing the certainty of the answer. The poem pauses here.
Fifth line, "imo wa aiyoramu": "my beloved will draw near to me." These are the oracle's words, in a line of eight syllables, one in excess. The conjectural "mu" closes with the hope that love will be fulfilled.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection
Source: Manyoshu
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