Imonaro ga tsukau kawazu no sasaraogi ashi to hitogoto katariyorashimo

妹なろが使ふ川津のささら荻
葦と人言語りよらしも

Roma-ji: Imonaro ga tsukau kawazu no sasaraogi ashi to hitogoto katariyorashimo
English Translation: My dear girl uses
the landing by the river,
where the little reeds grow:
"ashi," people call them—"bad,"
so the gossip seems to go.
Meaning: The little reeds by the river landing my darling uses—people call them "ashi," it seems, and so they speak ill of her.
Commentary: Book Fourteen Azuma Poems 3446

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Miscellaneous Poems"
As people call the little reeds at the landing his beloved uses "ashi," reed, the singer fears they are saying "ashi," bad, about her. Punning on the two senses, he frets about the slander of his love.
It is one of the miscellaneous poems. The pun on "ashi," reed and bad, also appears in 3391 from Hitachi, "Ashihoyama ashikaru toga mo."
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, "imonaro ga": "Naro" is an eastern suffix of endearment.
Second line, "tsukau kawazu no": "Kawazu" is a river landing.
Third line, "sasaraogi": "Sasaraogi" is thought to be a small reed; the first three lines form a preface.
Fourth line, "ashi to hitogoto": "Ashi," reed, puns on "ashi," bad, and "hitogoto" is gossip.
Final line, "katariyorashimo": "Katariyorashi" is thought to mean they seem to be talking; "mo" is exclamatory.
Source: Manyoshu
Prev Poem: Minato no ashi ga naka naru tamakosuge kariko waga seko toko no hedashi ni
Next Poem: Kusakage no ano na yukamu to harishi michi ano wa yukazute arakusa dachinu