Ikahoro no soi no harihara nemokoro ni oku o na kane so masaka shi yokaba

伊香保ろの沿ひの榛原ねもころに
奥をなかねそまさかしよかば

Roma-ji: Ikahoro no soi no harihara nemokoro ni oku o na kane so masaka shi yokaba
English Translation: On Ikaho's slopes,
along them grows the alder wood:
with roots so deep,
do not fret about the days to come—
as long as now is good.
Meaning: Like the alder wood rooted deep along Ikaho's slopes, do not brood so deeply over what is to come—so long as the present is good.
Commentary: Book Fourteen Azuma Poems 3410

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Sōmon (Love Exchanges)"
As the alder woods along Ikaho's slopes are deeply rooted, the singer says, do not brood so deeply over the future; if now is good, that is enough. An easy-going attitude to love that values present happiness over fears of the future shows through.
It is one of the Kōzuke poems. Poem 3435 of this book shares the same opening, "Ikahoro no soi no harihara," showing that Ikaho's alder woods were a familiar image in love poems.
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 no": Ikaho again, as in the preceding poem; the Ikaho poems continue among the Kōzuke songs.
Second line, "soi no harihara": "Soi" is the land along a mountain, and "harihara" is a wood of alder. The first two lines form a preface leading to "nemokoro."
Third line, "nemokoro ni": "Nemokoro ni" means earnestly, thoroughly, sounding "ne" (root).
Fourth line, "oku o na kane so": "Oku" means the future, and "na ... so" forbids.
Final line, "masaka shi yokaba": "Masaka" means now, paired with "oku" as in "masaka mo kanashi" in 3403. "Yokaba" is an eastern form of "yoku araba."
Source: Manyoshu
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