Ikahoro ni amakumo itsugi kanumazuku hito to otawau iza neshime tora

伊香保ろに天雲い継ぎかぬまづく
人とおたはふいざ寝しめとら

Roma-ji: Ikahoro ni amakumo itsugi kanumazuku hito to otawau iza neshime tora
English Translation: On Ikaho's heights
the clouds of heaven pile and pile,
the thunder rumbles:
so the people raise their din—
come, let us lie down to sleep.
Meaning: As clouds pile up over Ikaho and the thunder rolls, people are raising a clamor—come now, let us go to bed.
Commentary: Book Fourteen Azuma Poems 3409

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Sōmon (Love Exchanges)"
As clouds heap upon Ikaho and thunder rumbles, people are raising a fuss—but never mind, the singer says, let us lie together. Though full of obscure words, it is understood as a bold love song that defies gossip.
It is one of the Kōzuke poems. Poem 3518 of this book, "iwa no he ni ikakaru kumo no kanomazuku hito zo otawau iza neshime tora," has almost the same second half and seems to be another form of the same folk song.
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, "ikahoro ni": Ikaho in Kōzuke, thought to mean the Haruna range; "ro" is a suffix. Ikaho is sung many times in this book.
Second line, "amakumo itsugi": "I" is a prefix, and "tsugi" is clouds piling one upon another.
Third line, "kanumazuku": An obscure word, read either as thunder rumbling or as marshland.
Fourth line, "hito to otawau": "Otawau" is thought to mean to clamor, the gossip of people.
Final line, "iza neshime tora": "Shime" is causative, and "tora" is obscure but taken as a word of address; the poem ends urging, come, let us sleep.
Source: Manyoshu
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