Hitogoto no shigeki ni yorite mao gomo no oyaji makura wa wa wa makaji ya mo

人言の繁きによりてまを薦の
同じ枕は我はまかじやも

Roma-ji: Hitogoto no shigeki ni yorite mao gomo no oyaji makura wa wa wa makaji ya mo
English Translation: Though people's talk
grows so thick around us now,
the pillow of rush
that we share as one, my love—
shall I not lay my head on it?
Meaning: Just because the gossip grows thick, shall I give up sharing the same rush pillow with you? Never.
Commentary: Book Fourteen Azuma Poems 3464

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Sōmon (Love Exchanges)"
Just because people's gossip is thick, a woman declares, she will not stop sleeping on the same pillow as her lover. A love that will not yield to rumor is forcefully expressed through a rhetorical ending.
It is one of the love exchanges. Poem 3524 of this book also begins with "mao gomo 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, "hitogoto no": The gossip of others, the starting point for a love poem mindful of watching eyes.
Second line, "shigeki ni yorite": "Because it is so thick," the clamor of rumor given as the reason.
Third line, "mao gomo no": "Mao gomo" is wild rice, leading almost as a pillow word to a pillow woven of rushes.
Fourth line, "oyaji makura wa": "Oyaji" is an old form of "onaji," the same: the two sharing one pillow.
Final line, "wa wa makaji ya mo": "Makaji ya mo" means "shall I not pillow on it?" ending rhetorically.
Source: Manyoshu
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