Akagoma ga agaki hayakeba kumoi ni mo kakuri yukamu zo sode make wagimo

赤駒が足掻速けば雲居にも
隠り行かむぞ袖まけ我妹

Roma-ji: Akagoma ga agaki hayakeba kumoi ni mo kakuri yukamu zo sode make wagimo
English Translation: Since my chestnut steed
is so swift in its stride,
even past the clouds
I shall vanish far from you;
pillow on my sleeve, my love
Meaning: My chestnut horse is so swift of foot that I will soon be gone, hidden even beyond the clouds; so pillow your head upon my sleeve, my love.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2510

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Questions and Answers"
Because the chestnut horse is so fleet, on the way home the speaker will soon be far off, hidden even beyond the clouds; so now, he calls to his wife, pillow your head on my sleeve. As parting draws near, the man treasures the moment they still share.
The left note reads "the three poems above," so this poem and those through 2512 form one exchange. This is the man's opening; the next poem is the woman's, fearing the steep road to Hatsuse, and the one after is hers again, rejoicing at the sound of his horse. Across three poems they portray the love between a man who rides to visit and a woman who waits.
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, "akagoma ga": "my chestnut horse." The red horse, a chestnut, often appears in the Man'yoshu as the mount on which a man rides to visit his wife.
Second line, "agaki hayakeba": "because its stride is quick." "Hayake" is an old realis form of the adjective "hayashi," and with "ba" it marks a settled condition.
Third line, "kumoi ni mo": "even to where the clouds lie, far away." The particle "mo" stresses the distance, "even that far."
Fourth line, "kakuri yukamu zo": "I shall go and be hidden." The conjectural "mu" is reinforced by the particle "zo," and the poem breaks after the fourth line.
Fifth line, "sode make wagimo": "pillow on my sleeve, my love." "Make" is the imperative of the verb "maku," and closing on the address "wagimo" urges her to lie down together.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection
Source: Manyoshu
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