Shimotsuke no aso no kawara yo ishi fumazu sora yu to kinu yo na ga kokoro nore

下つ毛野阿蘇の川原よ石踏まず
空ゆと来ぬよ汝が心告れ

Roma-ji: Shimotsuke no aso no kawara yo ishi fumazu sora yu to kinu yo na ga kokoro nore
English Translation: In Shimotsuke,
over the riverbed of Aso,
treading on no stones,
as if through the sky I came—
now tell me what is in your heart.
Meaning: Across the riverbed of Aso in Shimotsuke I came without touching a stone, as if I flew through the sky—so tell me now what is in your heart.
Commentary: Book Fourteen Azuma Poems 3425

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Sōmon (Love Exchanges)"
Grudging even the time to step on the stones of the Aso riverbed, the singer has come as if flying through the air, and so he presses the beloved to tell her true heart. He seeks her feelings with the frankness of one still breathless from the journey.
The left note reads "The two poems above are from Shimotsuke Province," and this is the second. Aso is Aso District in Shimotsuke, thought to be near present-day Sano in Tochigi.
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, "shimotsuke no": The same opening as the preceding poem, as the Shimotsuke poems continue.
Second line, "aso no kawara yo": "Yo" marks passage: by way of the Aso riverbed. The name Aso also appears in 3404 among the Kōzuke poems.
Third line, "ishi fumazu": "Without stepping on a stone," showing how he hurried as if flying.
Fourth line, "sora yu to kinu yo": "Yu" marks passage: I came as though by way of the sky. The poem pauses here.
Final line, "na ga kokoro nore": "Nore" is an imperative, "tell me," closing with a demand for her true feelings.
Source: Manyoshu
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