Harue saku fuji no uraba no urayasu ni sanuru yo zo naki koro o shi moeba

春へ咲く藤の末葉のうら安に
さ寝る夜ぞなき子ろをし思へば

Roma-ji: Harue saku fuji no uraba no urayasu ni sanuru yo zo naki koro o shi moeba
English Translation: In spring they blossom—
on the wisteria, the leaf-tips:
never at ease
is there a night I sleep in peace,
whenever I think of her.
Meaning: Like the leaf tips of the wisteria blooming in spring, there is never a night I sleep with an easy heart, when I think of my girl.
Commentary: Book Fourteen Azuma Poems 3504

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Sōmon (Love Exchanges)"
From "ura," the leaf tips of spring wisteria, the singer draws "urayasu," ease of heart, saying there is no night he can sleep in peace when he thinks of his beloved. The calm spring scene of wisteria is set against sleepless nights.
It is one of the love exchanges. It uses the technique of a preface that leads into the next line through a repeated sound.
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, "harue saku": "Harue" means springtime.
Second line, "fuji no uraba no": "Uraba" are leaf tips, whose sound "ura" leads to "urayasu." The first two lines form a preface.
Third line, "urayasu ni": "Urayasu" means ease of heart.
Fourth line, "sanuru yo zo naki": "Zo" is a binding particle answered by the attributive "naki"; the poem pauses here.
Final line, "koro o shi moeba": "Shi" intensifies; the inversion gives the reason for sleeplessness at the end.
Source: Manyoshu
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