Nase no ko ya tori no okaji shi nakadaore a o ne shi naku yo ikuzuku made ni

汝背の子や等里の岡道しなかだ折れ
我を音し泣くよ息づくまでに

Roma-ji: Nase no ko ya tori no okaji shi nakadaore a o ne shi naku yo ikuzuku made ni
English Translation: O my dear husband,
like the hill road of Tori
broken off midway,
you have left me to sob aloud
till I can scarcely draw breath.
Meaning: O my love, like the hill road at Tori broken off midway, your visits have stopped, and I sob aloud till I can hardly breathe.
Commentary: Book Fourteen Azuma Poems 3458

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Sōmon (Love Exchanges)"
My love, a woman says, your visits have broken off like the hill road at Tori, and I weep aloud until I can barely breathe. The grief of trysts that have ceased is expressed as violent weeping.
It is one of the love exchanges. Tori is thought to be a place of unknown location. The phrase "a o ne shi naku na" also appears in 3362 from Sagami.
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, "nase no ko ya": "Nase" is an intimate word for husband or lover, and "ya" calls out; the line is hypermetric with six syllables.
Second line, "tori no okaji shi": The hill road of Tori, with "shi" intensifying.
Third line, "nakadaore": "Nakadaore" is thought to mean breaking off midway, overlaid with the end of his visits.
Fourth line, "a o ne shi naku yo": "Ne shi naku" means weeping aloud, the same phrase as in 3362.
Final line, "ikuzuku made ni": "Ikuzuku" means to sigh or gasp: to that extent, the poem ends.
Source: Manyoshu
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