Ōkimi no mikoto kashikomi kanashi imo ga tamakura hanare yodachi kino kamo

大君の命畏み愛し妹が
手枕離れ夜立ち来のかも

Roma-ji: Ōkimi no mikoto kashikomi kanashi imo ga tamakura hanare yodachi kino kamo
English Translation: At my Sovereign's word,
in awe of his high command,
from my darling wife,
from her arm I had for pillow,
in the night I came away.
Meaning: In awe of the Sovereign's command, I left my darling wife's arm-pillow and set out in the night.
Commentary: Book Fourteen Azuma Poems 3480

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Sōmon (Love Exchanges)"
Obeying the Sovereign's command, the singer left his dear wife's arm-pillow and set off in the night. It is the sorrow of a man leaving on a distant mission, perhaps as a frontier guard, torn between public duty and private love.
It is one of the love exchanges. "Ōkimi no mikoto kashikomi" is a phrase frequent in the frontier guards' poems of the Man'yōshū, and this poem echoes those of Book Twenty.
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, "ōkimi no": The Sovereign, the emperor, opening with public duty.
Second line, "mikoto kashikomi": "In awe of the command," with "mi" giving the reason.
Third line, "kanashi imo ga": "Kanashi" is an eastern form of "kanashiki," dear; the line is hypermetric with six syllables.
Fourth line, "tamakura hanare": "Leaving her arm-pillow," parting from their shared bed.
Final line, "yodachi kino kamo": "Yodachi" is setting out by night, "kino" an eastern form of "kinu," and "kamo" exclamatory.
Source: Manyoshu
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