Shinanu naru chiguma no kawa no sazareshi mo kimi shi fumiteba tama to hirowamu

信濃なる千曲の川のさざれ石も
君し踏みてば玉と拾はむ

Roma-ji: Shinanu naru chiguma no kawa no sazareshi mo kimi shi fumiteba tama to hirowamu
English Translation: In Shinano flows
the river of Chikuma:
even its pebbles,
if your feet have trodden them,
I will gather up as jewels.
Meaning: Even the pebbles of the Chikuma River in Shinano, if your feet have stepped on them, I will gather up as jewels.
Commentary: Book Fourteen Azuma Poems 3400

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Sōmon (Love Exchanges)"
Even pebbles of the Chikuma River, a woman says, she will gather as jewels if her beloved has trodden on them. A single-minded love that cherishes whatever he has touched is expressed with clear purity.
It is one of the Shinano poems. The Chikuma is a great river of Shinano, also known from Shimazaki Tōson's poetry, and this is known as the oldest poem about it.
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, "shinanu naru": Like 3352, it begins "Shinanu naru," marking a place in Shinano.
Second line, "chiguma no kawa no": The Chikuma River flowing through Shinano, one of the rivers sung in the Azuma poems.
Third line, "sazareshi mo": "Sazareshi" are pebbles; the line is hypermetric.
Fourth line, "kimi shi fumiteba": "Shi" intensifies, and "teba" marks completion and supposition: if you have trodden on them.
Final line, "tama to hirowamu": "I will gather them as jewels," with "mu" showing intention. The poem ends on the contrast of pebble and jewel.
Source: Manyoshu
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