Uma no oto no todo to mo sureba matsukage ni idete zo mitsuru kedashi kimi ka to

馬の音のとどともすれば松蔭に
出でてぞ見つるけだし君かと

Roma-ji: Uma no oto no todo to mo sureba matsukage ni idete zo mitsuru kedashi kimi ka to
English Translation: Whenever there comes
the sound of hooves clattering,
to the pine tree's shade
I have gone out to look,
thinking it might just be you
Meaning: Whenever I heard the clatter of hooves, I went out into the shade of the pines to look, thinking that perhaps it was you.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2653

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Feelings through Things"
Each time she hears hoofbeats, the speaker goes out into the shade of the pines, hoping it may be her lover: this poem captures a woman waiting for his visit. Through the gesture of listening for hoofbeats and stepping outside each time, it vividly portrays the ache of waiting.
Following the loose horse of the preceding poem, this is another poem on horses, and the next poem also hears hoofbeats at a sleepless dawn. Where this poem goes out in hope that it is the lover, the next resents the hoofbeats of someone else, so that hope and disappointment form a pair.
The author is unknown. The anonymous poems of Book Eleven gather the love poems of people whose names have not come down to us.

First line, "uma no oto no": "the sound of a horse." The line has six syllables, one more than usual.
Second line, "todo to mo sureba": "whenever it sounds 'todo.'" "Todo" imitates the sound of hooves, and "sureba" means "each time it does."
Third line, "matsukage ni": "in the shade of the pines." Some see in "matsu," pine, an echo of "matsu," to wait.
Fourth line, "idete zo mitsuru": "I went out and looked." The binding particle "zo" is answered by the attributive "tsuru" of the perfective "tsu," and the poem breaks here.
Fifth line, "kedashi kimi ka to": "thinking perhaps it was you." "Kedashi" means "perhaps"; the line is inverted with the fourth, giving the reason for going out after the fact.
Source: Manyoshu
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