Natsusobiku unahi o sashite tobu tori no itaramu to zo yo a ga shitahaeshi

夏麻引く宇奈比をさして飛ぶ鳥の
至らむとぞよ我が下延へし

Roma-ji: Natsusobiku unahi o sashite tobu tori no itaramu to zo yo a ga shitahaeshi
English Translation: Hemp-pulling Unahi—
toward it on steady wings
the birds go flying:
so I would reach you, I resolved,
in the secret of my heart.
Meaning: Like birds flying straight toward Unahi, I have long meant in my secret heart to reach you at last.
Commentary: Book Fourteen Azuma Poems 3381

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Sōmon (Love Exchanges)"
Like birds flying straight for Unahi, the singer confesses that she has long resolved in her heart to reach the beloved one day. The birds' single-minded flight carries the certainty of a hidden love.
The left note reads "The nine poems above are from Musashi Province," and this is the last of them. Unahi is a place of unknown location, thought by some to be by the sea.
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, "natsusobiku": A pillow word for place names beginning with "u," the same opening as 3348 at the head of the book. The pillow word of the opening poem is placed at the close of the Musashi poems.
Second line, "unahi o sashite": "Unahi" is a place name, and "sashite" means heading for.
Third line, "tobu tori no": Birds flying straight; the first three lines form a preface leading to "itaramu."
Fourth line, "itaramu to zo yo": "To zo yo" adds strong emphasis and exclamation: it was to reach you.
Final line, "a ga shitahaeshi": "Shitahau" means to think of someone in secret, the same word as "shitabae" in 3371. It closes in the attributive "shi," answering "zo."
Source: Manyoshu
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