Tsukushi naru niou ko yue ni michinoku no katori otome no yuishi himo toku

筑紫なるにほふ子ゆゑに陸奥の
可刀利娘子の結ひし紐解く

Roma-ji: Tsukushi naru niou ko yue ni michinoku no katori otome no yuishi himo toku
English Translation: In far Tsukushi
for the sake of a radiant girl,
the cord that was tied
by the maid of Katori
in Michinoku, I untie.
Meaning: For the sake of a radiant girl in Tsukushi, I untie the cord that the maiden of Katori in Michinoku tied for me.
Commentary: Book Fourteen Azuma Poems 3427

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Sōmon (Love Exchanges)"
Drawn to a beautiful girl in distant Tsukushi, the singer unties the cord that the maiden of Katori back home in Mutsu had tied. It is read as the change of heart of a man sent to Tsukushi as a frontier guard, and the contrast between Mutsu and Tsukushi, the two ends of the land, is striking.
It is one of the Mutsu poems. "Tie my cord" in the preceding poem and "untie the cord she tied" in this one stand side by side as a pair of tying and untying.
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, "tsukushi naru": "Naru" marks location: Tsukushi in Kyushu. A Mutsu poem sings of faraway Tsukushi.
Second line, "niou ko yue ni": "Niou" means to glow with beauty, and "yue ni" means for her sake.
Third line, "michinoku no": Michinoku in the north, contrasted with Tsukushi of the first line as the two ends of the land.
Fourth line, "katori otome no": "Katori" is thought to be a place name, home of the girl left behind.
Final line, "yuishi himo toku": Untying the cord she tied, pairing untying with tying in the preceding poem's "himo musubasane."
Source: Manyoshu
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