Tsurugitachi mi ni sou imo o torimigane ne o zo nakitsuru tego ni aranaku ni

剣大刀身に添ふ妹を取り見がね
音をぞ泣きつる手児にあらなくに

Roma-ji: Tsurugitachi mi ni sou imo o torimigane ne o zo nakitsuru tego ni aranaku ni
English Translation: Like a sword at side,
my wife who stayed close by me—
unable to tend her,
I have wept aloud, I have,
though I am no little child.
Meaning: Unable to care for my wife, who was always by my side like a sword, I cried aloud—though I am no child.
Commentary: Book Fourteen Azuma Poems 3485

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Sōmon (Love Exchanges)"
Unable to care for the wife who was always at his side, the singer has wept aloud like a child. Some read it as a lament on the death of a wife, and the deep grief of a grown man seeps through.
It is one of the love exchanges. Because swords are worn at the body, "tsurugitachi" serves as a pillow word for "at one's side."
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, "tsurugitachi": Sword and blade, a pillow word for "close to the body," since they are worn at one's side.
Second line, "mi ni sou imo o": The wife who stayed close at his side.
Third line, "torimigane": "Torimi" is to tend or nurse, and "gane" an eastern form of "kane."
Fourth line, "ne o zo nakitsuru": "Zo" is a binding particle answered by the attributive "tsuru."
Final line, "tego ni aranaku ni": "Tego" is a small child: though I am no child, the poem ends wryly.
Source: Manyoshu
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