Osohaya mo na o koso matame mukatsuo no shii no koyade no ai wa tagawaji

遅速も汝をこそ待ため向つ峰の
椎の小やで枝の逢ひは違はじ

Roma-ji: Osohaya mo na o koso matame mukatsuo no shii no koyade no ai wa tagawaji
English Translation: Be it late or soon,
you alone it is I'll wait for:
on the facing peak
the little boughs of the shii tree
meet, and our meeting will not fail.
Meaning: Late or soon, it is you I will wait for. As the little boughs of the shii tree on the facing peak meet and mingle, our meeting will not fail.
Commentary: Book Fourteen Azuma Poems 3493

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Sōmon (Love Exchanges)"
Late or early, the singer will wait for the beloved; like the branches of the shii tree on the facing peak that cross one another, they are sure to meet. Trust that they will meet and the resolve to keep waiting are expressed.
It is one of the love exchanges. The left note records a variant from another book, "osohaya mo kimi o shi matamu mukatsuo no shii no saeda no toki wa sugu tomo," in which the speaker is a woman.
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, "osohaya mo": "Whether late or early."
Second line, "na o koso matame": "Koso" is a binding particle answered by the perfective "tame"; the poem pauses here.
Third line, "mukatsuo no": The facing peak; "mukatsuo" also appears in the miscellaneous poem 3448.
Fourth line, "shii no koyade no": "Koyade" is thought to be small branches; the line is hypermetric. The interlacing boughs of the shii lead to "meeting."
Final line, "ai wa tagawaji": "Ji" is negative intention: our meeting will not go astray.
Source: Manyoshu
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