Tatasa ni mo ka ni mo yokosa mo yatsuko to zo are wa arikeru nushi no tonodo ni

縦さにもかにも横さも奴とぞ
我れはありける主の殿戸に

Roma-ji: Tatasa ni mo ka ni mo yokosa mo yatsuko to zo are wa arikeru nushi no tonodo ni
English Translation: Lengthwise or this way,
crosswise any way at all,
a servant, it seems,
is all that I have ever been
at the doorway of my lord.
Meaning: Whichever way you look at it, lengthwise or crosswise, I have always been but a servant at the gate of my master's hall.
Commentary: Book Eighteen 4132

Headnote: "Two more poems sent."
The poet says that whichever way one looks at it, he is a servant at the doorway of his master's hall. Sent by Ikenushi after the earlier playful poems, it casts Yakamochi as master and himself as servant, humbling himself in the joking tone possible only between close friends.
Ōtomo no Ikenushi was a member of the Ōtomo clan who served as secretary of Etchū while Yakamochi was governor there, exchanging many poems and letters with him. At this time he had been transferred to the post of secretary of Echizen.
The accompanying letter says that on the fifteenth of the twelfth month he came to the border of Kaga District on business to meet the post-station envoy; that the village of Imizu rises before his mind's eye and his longing knots itself at Fukami village; that he worries his previous letter may have caused misunderstanding; and that he consoles his traveler's sorrow by reciting the needle-pouch poems, passing his days in contentment. Dated the fifteenth of the twelfth month of 749, it playfully calls himself "the lowly clerk who demands goods" and Yakamochi "the unyielding envoy."

First line, "tatasa ni mo": "from the lengthwise direction too."
Second line, "ka ni mo yokosa mo": "ka ni mo" is thought to mean "that way too," and with "crosswise" the whole means "whichever way."
Third line, "yatsuko to zo": "yatsuko" means a servant, and "zo" is a binding particle forming a kakari-musubi construction with "keru" in the fourth line. Like "hina no yatsuko ni" in Yakamochi's 4082, it is a humble expression calling oneself a servant.
Fourth line, "are wa arikeru": "keru" is the attributive form of the exclamatory "keri," completing the construction with "zo." The poem pauses after the fourth line.
Last line, "nushi no tonodo ni": "nushi" is Yakamochi, and it ends by naming the servant's place, the doorway of the master's hall.
Author: Ōtomo no Ikenushi
Source: Manyoshu
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