Ashigari no tohi no kōchi ni izuru yu no yo ni mo tayora ni koro ga iwanaku ni

あしがりの土肥の河内に出づる湯の
よにもたよらに子ろが言はなくに

Roma-ji: Ashigari no tohi no kōchi ni izuru yu no yo ni mo tayora ni koro ga iwanaku ni
English Translation: At Ashigari,
in Tohi's river valley
hot springs come welling:
never so wavering as that
are the words my darling speaks.
Meaning: Unlike the hot spring that wells up wavering in the river valley of Tohi in Ashigari, my darling never speaks lightly or unsteadily.
Commentary: Book Fourteen Azuma Poems 3368

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Sōmon (Love Exchanges)"
Drawing on the shimmering spring water in the valley of Tohi, the singer says his love is never one to speak idly, voicing trust in her. The preface, fitting for a land of hot springs, is memorable.
It is one of the Sagami poems. The valley of Tohi is thought to be near present-day Yugawara in Kanagawa, and the poem is known as an early example of singing about hot springs.
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, "ashigari no": "Ashigari" is an eastern form of "Ashigara." Poems 3369, 3370, 3431, and 3432 of this book open with the same line.
Second line, "tohi no kōchi ni": "Tohi" is an old name for the area from Yugawara to Manazuru; "kōchi" is a valley along a river.
Third line, "izuru yu no": Welling hot springs; the first three lines form a preface leading to "tayora," wavering.
Fourth line, "yo ni mo tayora ni": "Yo ni mo" means never at all, and "tayora ni" describes an unsteady swaying.
Final line, "koro ga iwanaku ni": "Naku ni" is an exclamatory negative: she does not speak so. The poem ends trusting her, yet with a hint of unease.
Source: Manyoshu
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