Ashigari no akina no yama ni hiko fune no shiri hikashimo yo kokoba kogata ni

足柄の安伎奈の山に引こ船の
後引かしもよここばこがたに

Roma-ji: Ashigari no akina no yama ni hiko fune no shiri hikashimo yo kokoba kogata ni
English Translation: On Ashigara,
on the mountain of Akina,
the boat being hauled:
how it pulls me from behind,
coming here is so hard to bear.
Meaning: Like the boat hauled down from Mount Akina in Ashigara, held back from behind, I am pulled back—so hard is it to come here.
Commentary: Book Fourteen Azuma Poems 3431

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Allegorical Poems"
Like a boat being hauled down from Mount Akina in Ashigara, held back at the stern, the singer is reluctant to leave the beloved. The local character of Ashigara, where boats were built in the mountains, enlivens the figure.
The next three poems are allegories from Sagami, as the left note says: "The three poems above are from Sagami Province." Mount Akina is thought to be one of the peaks in the Ashigara range.
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, "ashigari no": Ashigara in Sagami, read "Ashigari" as in 3368.
Second line, "akina no yama ni": A mountain thought to be in the Ashigara range.
Third line, "hiko fune no": "Hiko fune" is an eastern form of "hiku fune," hauling a boat down from the mountain. The first three lines form a preface.
Fourth line, "shiri hikashimo yo": "Shiri hikashi" means pulling from behind, reluctance to part; "mo yo" is exclamatory.
Final line, "kokoba kogata ni": "Kokoba" means so very much, and "kogata ni" is thought to mean "because it is hard to come."
Source: Manyoshu
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