Azusayumi yora no yamabe no shigekaku ni imoro o tatete sanedo harau mo

梓弓欲良の山辺の茂かくに
妹ろを立ててさ寝処払ふも

Roma-ji: Azusayumi yora no yamabe no shigekaku ni imoro o tatete sanedo harau mo
English Translation: A catalpa bow—
at the edge of Mount Yora,
in the thick-grown brush,
leaving my darling standing,
I sweep clear a place to lie.
Meaning: In the thick brush at the foot of Mount Yora, I leave my darling standing and sweep clean a place for us to lie.
Commentary: Book Fourteen Azuma Poems 3489

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Sōmon (Love Exchanges)"
Leaving his beloved waiting in the thickets at the edge of Mount Yora, a man clears the grass to make a place for them to lie. The concrete scene of a tryst in the fields is drawn with open ease.
It is one of the love exchanges. Yora is a place of unknown location, thought by some to be in Shinano. Like 3487, it begins with "azusayumi."
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, "azusayumi": A bow of catalpa wood, a pillow word for "Yora" through drawing a bow toward oneself; the same opening as 3487.
Second line, "yora no yamabe no": The foot of Mount Yora, a place of unknown location.
Third line, "shigekaku ni": "Shigekaku" means a thicket, a place grown thick.
Fourth line, "imoro o tatete": The "ro" of "imoro" is an eastern suffix of endearment: leaving my love standing.
Final line, "sanedo harau mo": "Sanedo" is a place to lie together, and "harau" is sweeping away grass; "mo" is exclamatory.
Source: Manyoshu
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