Aji no sumu susa no irie no arisomatsu a o matsu kora wa tada hitori nomi

あぢの住む渚沙の入江の荒礒松
我を待つ子らはただ独りのみ

Roma-ji: Aji no sumu susa no irie no arisomatsu a o matsu kora wa tada hitori nomi
English Translation: At Susa's inlet
where the aji ducks make their home,
the pine on rough rocks:
the girl who waits there for me
is one alone, only she
Meaning: Like the pine on the rocky shore of Susa inlet where the aji ducks dwell, the girl who waits for me is one alone, and only she.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2751

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Feelings through Things"
This love poem says that the girl who waits for the speaker is one and only one. Borrowing the name of the pine that stands on the rocky shore of an inlet, it expresses single-minded love for the one who waits and how dear she is.
It is a poem "Expressing Feelings through Things" that speaks through a pine on a rocky shore, following the Abe orange of the preceding poem with another tree. Drawing "to wait" (matsu) out of "pine" (matsu) is a common association in the Man'yoshu, and this poem is a typical example.
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, "aji no sumu": "where aji ducks dwell." The aji is a kind of duck that lives in flocks along the water.
Second line, "susa no irie no": "of the inlet of Susa." There are several theories about where Susa was.
Third line, "arisomatsu": a pine growing on a rough, rocky shore. The first three lines form an introductory phrase that, through the homophones "pine" and "wait," leads to "matsu" in the fourth line.
Fourth line, "a o matsu kora wa": "the girl who waits for me." The suffix "ra" in "kora" expresses affection and does not mark the plural.
Fifth line, "tada hitori nomi": "one alone, only she." "Nomi" sharply limits the one who waits to that single girl.
Source: Manyoshu
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