Tsukubane no niiguwa mayo no kinu wa aredo kimi ga mikeshi shi ayani kihoshimo

筑波嶺の新桑繭の衣はあれど
君が御衣しあやに着欲しも

Roma-ji: Tsukubane no niiguwa mayo no kinu wa aredo kimi ga mikeshi shi ayani kihoshimo
English Translation: Mount Tsukuba's
silk from new mulberry leaves—
robes of that I own,
yet it is your garment, love,
that I so long to put on.
Meaning: I have robes of silk from cocoons fed on Tsukuba's fresh mulberry leaves, yet it is your clothing I long, beyond reason, to wear.
Commentary: Book Fourteen Azuma Poems 3350

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Azuma Poems"
A woman says that though she owns fine robes woven from cocoons fed on new mulberry, what she truly wants is to wear the clothes of the man she loves. Through the garment she voices an intense wish to be at one with him.
The left note records a variant from another book in which the first line reads "tarachine no" and the last "amata kihoshimo." The note also groups this poem with the next as "the two poems above are from Hitachi Province," present-day Ibaraki Prefecture.
The poet is unknown. The Azuma uta are thought to have been sung among the people of the eastern provinces, and they are marked by plain, open-hearted expression mixed with local dialect.

First line, "tsukubane no": Mount Tsukuba in Hitachi, with its twin peaks, Nantai and Nyotai. Tsukuba appears again and again among the Hitachi poems of this book, and the next poem opens with the same "Tsukubane."
Second line, "niiguwa mayo no": Cocoons of silkworms fed on freshly sprouted mulberry leaves. Behind the phrase lies the silk-raising life of the eastern provinces.
Third line, "kinu wa aredo": The particle "do" is concessive: though I have fine robes. It turns from the first half to the wish of the second.
Fourth line, "kimi ga mikeshi shi": "Mikeshi" respectfully names the beloved's garment, and "shi" is an intensifying particle. The contrast between her own robe and his is the heart of the poem.
Final line, "ayani kihoshimo": "Ayani" means beyond reason, "hoshi" expresses desire, and "mo" is exclamatory. The poem ends by overturning values: not the fine robe, but his.
Source: Manyoshu
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