Waga seko shi kedashi makaraba shirotae no sode o furasane mitsutsu shinowamu

我が背子しけだし罷らば白栲の
袖を振らさね見つつ偲はむ

Roma-ji: Waga seko shi kedashi makaraba shirotae no sode o furasane mitsutsu shinowamu
English Translation: My dear husband,
if you must truly leave us,
your white sleeves
wave them to me, I pray,
I will watch and cherish you
Meaning: My dear husband, if you must really leave, wave your white sleeves to me, and I will watch them and cherish your memory.
Commentary: Book Fifteen Exchange Poems of Nakatomi no Yakamori and Sano no Otogami no Otome 3725

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Poems exchanged between Nakatomi no Ason Yakamori and Sano no Otogami no Otome"
She sings that if her husband must truly depart, he should wave his white sleeves, for she will watch them and cherish him. Waving sleeves at parting was held to be a magical gesture drawing the other's spirit near, and she seeks to engrave his figure in her heart as a support after they part. Turning from the passion of the preceding poem, it expresses the aching heart of one trying to accept the parting.
The author, Sano no Otogami no Otome, was a lady-in-waiting of low rank known as a nyoju, serving in the palace storehouse office; she is also written Sano no Chigami no Otome.
A left note reads "the above four poems were composed by the young woman on the point of parting"; the four poems from 3723 to 3726 of this book were made by the young woman as she faced parting from Yakamori. The latter half of this book contains sixty-three poems exchanged between Nakatomi no Yakamori and Sano no Otogami no Otome. According to the book's table of contents, when Yakamori took as his wife the young woman, a lady-in-waiting of the palace storehouse office, he was exiled to Echizen Province by imperial decree. The place of exile is thought to be Ajimano in Echizen, near present-day Echizen City, Fukui Prefecture.

First line, "waga seko shi": "seko" is a woman's affectionate word for her husband or lover; "shi" is emphatic.
Second line, "kedashi makaraba": "kedashi" means perhaps, and "makaru" to go down from the capital to the provinces: if you are really leaving.
Third line, "shirotae no": white bark-cloth, a pillow word for "sode" (sleeves).
Fourth line, "sode o furasane": "furasu" is an honorific of "furu" (wave), and "ne" a final particle of wishing addressed to another: please wave your sleeves. The poem breaks after the fourth line.
Fifth line, "mitsutsu shinowamu": "shinou" means to think of with love, and "mu" is intention: I will watch and cherish you, the poem ends.
Author: Sano no Otogami no Otome
Source: Manyoshu
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