Okuyama no maki no itado o oshi hiraki shie ya idekone nochi wa nani semu

奥山の真木の板戸を押し開き
しゑや出で来ね後は何せむ

Roma-ji: Okuyama no maki no itado o oshi hiraki shie ya idekone nochi wa nani semu
English Translation: From the far mountains,
the door of fine cedar boards,
push it open wide;
come now, come out to me:
later, what good would it be?
Meaning: Push open the door of fine timber from the deep mountains, and come out to me now, come; later, what use would it be?
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2519

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing One's Feelings Directly"
Push open the board door of fine mountain timber and come out boldly, for later it will be too late: so a man calls at the doorway of a woman's house. The poem frankly voices his urgent impatience, pressing the woman within to meet him at once.
This is a poem expressing feelings directly. The scene of a man calling at the door after visiting a woman by night reflects the ancient custom of the husband's night visit, and though the poem pictures the board door, its heart lies in the direct plea "shie ya idekone."
The author is unknown. The anonymous poems of Book Eleven gather love poems by people whose names have not come down to us.

First line, "okuyama no": "of the deep mountains," naming mountains that yield fine timber and showing the quality of the following "maki."
Second line, "maki no itado o": "the board door of fine timber." "Maki" is a general term for good timber trees such as cedar and cypress, picturing the firmly shut door of the woman's house.
Third line, "oshi hiraki": "pushing it open." It asks concretely for the woman's action of opening the door and coming out.
Fourth line, "shie ya idekone": "come now, come out." "Shie ya" is an interjection that casts off hesitation, and "ne" is a final particle of wish. The poem breaks after the fourth line.
Fifth line, "nochi wa nani semu": "later, what use?" "Nani semu" is rhetorical, "what good would it be," closing with the urgent feeling that unless it is now, it means nothing.
Source: Manyoshu
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