Azumaji no tego no yobisaka koete inaba are wa koimu na nochi wa ainu tomo

東路の手児の呼坂越えて去なば
我れは恋ひむな後は逢ひぬとも

Roma-ji: Azumaji no tego no yobisaka koete inaba are wa koimu na nochi wa ainu tomo
English Translation: On the eastern road,
at Tego's Calling Slope,
if you cross and go,
oh, how I shall long for you—
though later we should meet again.
Meaning: If you cross Tego's Calling Slope on the eastern road and go away, how I shall miss you—even if we meet again later.
Commentary: Book Fourteen Azuma Poems 3477

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Sōmon (Love Exchanges)"
If the beloved crosses the Calling Slope of Tego and goes away, the singer will long for him even if they are to meet again later. Even with reunion promised, the longing of separation cannot be escaped—a poignant feeling.
It is one of the love exchanges. It shares its opening, "Azumaji no tego no yobisaka," with the miscellaneous poem 3442, and is set at the same slope.
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, "azumaji no": The road to the east, the same opening as 3442.
Second line, "tego no yobisaka": The same slope as in 3442, said to carry a legend of a maiden calling out.
Third line, "koete inaba": "If you cross and leave," a hypermetric line.
Fourth line, "are wa koimu na": "Na" is exclamatory: how I shall long for you. The poem pauses here.
Final line, "nochi wa ainu tomo": "Even if we meet later," giving the condition at the end by inversion.
Source: Manyoshu
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