Shinanuji wa ima no harimichi karibane ni ashi fumashinamu kutsu hake waga se

信濃道は今の墾り道刈りばねに
足踏ましなむ沓はけ我が背

Roma-ji: Shinanuji wa ima no harimichi karibane ni ashi fumashinamu kutsu hake waga se
English Translation: The Shinano road
is a newly opened way:
on the cut-off stumps
you are sure to wound your feet—
wear your shoes, my husband dear.
Meaning: The Shinano road is newly cut through. You will step on the stumps and hurt your feet—put on your shoes, my love.
Commentary: Book Fourteen Azuma Poems 3399

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Sōmon (Love Exchanges)"
The Shinano road has only just been cut and stumps remain, so a wife urges her husband to wear shoes lest he hurt his feet. Her tender concern for her departing husband is expressed in concrete words.
It is one of the Shinano poems. The Shoku Nihongi records that the Kiso road linking Mino and Shinano was opened in the second year of Taihō, and some take "the newly opened road" here to be that road.
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, "shinanuji wa": The road to Shinano; "Shinanu" is the old reading of Shinano.
Second line, "ima no harimichi": "Harimichi" is a newly cut road, and the poem pauses here.
Third line, "karibane ni": "Karibane" are the stumps left after cutting trees or bamboo.
Fourth line, "ashi fumashinamu": "Namu" is strong conjecture: you will surely step on them. The third and fourth lines show the danger.
Final line, "kutsu hake waga se": "Hake" is an imperative, and "waga se" addresses her husband. The poem ends with an inverted address.
Source: Manyoshu
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