Ube kona wa wanu ni kounamo tatotsuku no nuganae yukeba koushikarunamo

うべ子なは我ぬに恋ふなも立と月の
ぬがなへ行けば恋しかるなも

Roma-ji: Ube kona wa wanu ni kounamo tatotsuku no nuganae yukeba koushikarunamo
English Translation: Indeed, my sweet girl
must be longing now for me:
as the new moons rise
and the months go slipping by,
she must be pining so for me.
Meaning: No wonder my girl must be longing for me—as new moons rise and the months slip by, she must be missing me.
Commentary: Book Fourteen Azuma Poems 3476

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Sōmon (Love Exchanges)"
As new months begin and the days pile up, the traveler thinks his beloved at home must surely be missing him now. Rich in dialect, it shows a simple feeling of imagining the heart of one far away.
It is one of the love exchanges. The left note records a variant ending from another book: "nuganae yukedo wanu yuganoeba."
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, "ube kona wa": "Ube" means no wonder, and "kona" is an eastern endearment for a sweetheart.
Second line, "wanu ni kounamo": "Wanu" is "me," and "namo" an eastern form of "ramu": she must be longing for me.
Third line, "tatotsuku no": "Tatotsuku" is an eastern form of "tatsu tsuki," the new month beginning.
Fourth line, "nuganae yukeba": "Nuganae" is thought to be an eastern word for flowing by.
Final line, "koushikarunamo": "She must miss me," ending with the same "namo" as the second line, so the two halves echo each other.
Source: Manyoshu
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