Matōku no no ni mo awanamu kokoro naku sato no minaka ni aeru sena kamo

ま遠くの野にも逢はなむ心なく
里のみ中に逢へる背なかも

Roma-ji: Matōku no no ni mo awanamu kokoro naku sato no minaka ni aeru sena kamo
English Translation: Far, so far away,
out on the moor I'd have you meet me—
without a thought,
right in the middle of the village
you meet me there, my love!
Meaning: I wish you would meet me out on some faraway moor—yet thoughtlessly you meet me right in the middle of the village!
Commentary: Book Fourteen Azuma Poems 3463

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Sōmon (Love Exchanges)"
A woman reproaches her lover's thoughtlessness: she wants to meet him on a distant moor where no one sees, yet he meets her openly in the middle of the village. The mismatch between a woman who fears others' eyes and a man who cares nothing for them is sung.
It is one of the love exchanges. Like the miscellaneous poem 3441, it begins with "matōku no."
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, "matōku no": "Ma" is a prefix: far away. The same opening as 3441.
Second line, "no ni mo awanamu": "Namu" expresses a wish of another: I wish you would meet me. The poem pauses here.
Third line, "kokoro naku": "Without consideration."
Fourth line, "sato no minaka ni": "Minaka" is the very middle, the busy heart of the village.
Final line, "aeru sena kamo": "Sena" is the lover, and "kamo" is exclamatory.
Source: Manyoshu
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