Ōnoji wa shigeji shigemichi shigeku tomo kimi shi kayowaba michi wa hirokemu

大野道は茂道茂路茂くとも
君し通はば道は広けむ

Roma-ji: Ōnoji wa shigeji shigemichi shigeku tomo kimi shi kayowaba michi wa hirokemu
English Translation: The Ōno road—
a tangled road, an overgrown path—
however thick it grows,
if only you would come to me,
the way would open wide.
Meaning: The road through Ōno is overgrown, thick with weeds, but however thick it grows, if you would only come along it to me, the way would open wide.
Commentary: Book Sixteen Poems with Tales of Origin and Miscellaneous Poems 3881

Headnote: "Four poems of the province of Etchū."
The singer says the road through Ōno is overgrown, but if her lover would come along it, it would grow wide. It is a folk-song-like poem entrusting a waiting woman's heart to an overgrown country road.
It is the first of four songs sung in Etchū. The lively repetition of shige, "thick," recalls a song meant to be sung aloud.
The poet is not recorded.

First line, "Ōnoji wa," means "the Ōno road," read either as a place in Etchū or as a road across a wide moor.
Second line, "shigeji shigemichi," means "an overgrown road, an overgrown path," repeating words of like meaning for rhythm.
Third line, "shigeku tomo," means "however thick it grows," repeating shige yet again to stress the tangle.
Fourth line, "kimi shi kayowaba," means "if you would come along it." Shi is an emphatic particle.
Final line, "michi wa hirokemu," means "the road will grow wide." Taking up "road" from the first line, it closes on the wish that the lover's coming will open the overgrown way.
Source: Manyoshu
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