Akagoma o uchite saobiki kokoro hiki ika naru sena ka wagari komu to iu

赤駒を打ちてさ緒引き心引き
いかなる背なか我がり来むと言ふ

Roma-ji: Akagoma o uchite saobiki kokoro hiki ika naru sena ka wagari komu to iu
English Translation: Whipping the chestnut,
drawing on the reins, he draws
my heart along too—
what kind of man is this, I wonder,
who says he'll come to me?
Meaning: Like one who whips his chestnut horse and draws on the reins, he draws my heart—what kind of man is he, saying he will come to me?
Commentary: Book Fourteen Azuma Poems 3536

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Sōmon (Love Exchanges)"
Like one whipping a chestnut horse and drawing the reins, he draws her heart along—what sort of man says he will come to her? So a woman scolds. Resistance to a teasing man mingles with feelings not entirely unwelcome.
It is one of the love exchanges, as the horse poems continue. After 3534 it again sings of a chestnut horse.
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, "akagoma o": A chestnut horse, after 3534.
Second line, "uchite saobiki": "Sao" are the reins, and "hiki" is pulling them. The first two lines form a preface.
Third line, "kokoro hiki": "Drawing my heart," repeating "hiki" from the second line.
Fourth line, "ika naru sena ka": "What kind of man," with "ka" interrogative.
Final line, "wagari komu to iu": "Gari" means to where someone is, the same word as "imogari" in 3356; the line is hypermetric.
Source: Manyoshu
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