Mikukuno ni kamo no hahonosu koro ga ue ni kotooro haete imada nenau mo

水久君野に鴨の這ほのす子ろが上に
言緒ろ延へていまだ寝なふも

Roma-ji: Mikukuno ni kamo no hahonosu koro ga ue ni kotooro haete imada nenau mo
English Translation: On Mikuku moor,
as the wild ducks waddle on,
upon my dear girl
I keep stretching out my words,
yet we still have not lain down.
Meaning: Like the ducks waddling across Mikuku moor, I keep stretching out my words to her—and still we have not slept together.
Commentary: Book Fourteen Azuma Poems 3525

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Sōmon (Love Exchanges)"
Like ducks waddling across Mikuku moor, the singer keeps addressing his beloved, yet they have still not lain together. The ducks' slow progress mirrors the frustration of a love that will not move forward.
It is one of the love exchanges and, following the preceding poem, sings of ducks. Mikuku moor is a place of unknown location.
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, "mikukuno ni": A moor of unknown location, opening with a place name.
Second line, "kamo no hahonosu": "Haho" is "hau" and "nosu" an eastern form of "nasu": as the ducks waddle. The first two lines form a preface.
Third line, "koro ga ue ni": "Upon my girl," a hypermetric line.
Fourth line, "kotooro haete": "Kotooro" is thought to mean a thread of words, and "haete" means stretching it out.
Final line, "imada nenau mo": "Nau" is an eastern negative: not yet lain together; "mo" is exclamatory.
Source: Manyoshu
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