Mao gomo no fu no machikakute awanaeba okitsu makamo no nageki zo a ga suru

まを薦の節の間近くて逢はなへば
沖つま鴨の嘆きぞ我がする

Roma-ji: Mao gomo no fu no machikakute awanaeba okitsu makamo no nageki zo a ga suru
English Translation: Like a rush stem's joints,
so close are we, yet apart—
since we do not meet,
like the wild ducks on the sea
long and deep I sigh and grieve.
Meaning: Though we are close as the joints of a rush stem, we do not meet—so like the ducks out on the sea, I heave long sighs.
Commentary: Book Fourteen Azuma Poems 3524

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Sōmon (Love Exchanges)"
Though they are as close as the joints of a rush stem, they cannot meet, and so the singer sighs like the ducks floating offshore. The pain of a love near yet far is laid over the long breaths of waterfowl.
It is one of the love exchanges. Like 3464 it begins with "mao gomo no," and after the cranes it sings of ducks; poems of ducks and other waterfowl follow for a while.
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, "mao gomo no": Wild rice, leading almost as a pillow word to "joints"; the same opening as 3464.
Second line, "fu no machikakute": "Fu" is the space between joints, close together: being near.
Third line, "awanaeba": "Nae" is an eastern negative: since we do not meet.
Fourth line, "okitsu makamo no": Ducks offshore, which dive and come up with long breaths, leading to "sighing."
Final line, "nageki zo a ga suru": "Nageki" is a long sigh; the line closes in the attributive "suru," answering "zo."
Source: Manyoshu
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