Ōkimi wa kami ni shi maseba akagoma no harabau tai o miyako to nashitsu

大君は神にしませば赤駒の
腹這ふ田居を都と成しつ

Roma-ji: Ōkimi wa kami ni shi maseba akagoma no harabau tai o miyako to nashitsu
English Translation: Our sovereign lord,
being a god among us,
where red horses wade
belly-deep through paddy mud,
has made it a capital
Meaning: Our sovereign, being a god, has turned paddies where red horses wade belly-deep in mud into a royal capital.
Commentary: Book Nineteen 4260

Headnote: "Two poems from after the pacification of the disturbance of the year Jinshin"
Praising Emperor Tenmu, who after victory in the Jinshin War (672) built the Kiyomihara palace at Asuka, it extols his superhuman power: our sovereign, being a god, has turned paddies where red horses wade belly-deep into a capital.
"Our sovereign, being a god" is a set phrase praising the emperor as a living god, widely used in the reign of Tenmu after the Jinshin War. The left note says, "The above poem was composed by Lord Ōtomo, General, posthumously Minister of the Right." The left note says, "The above two poems were heard on the second day of the second month of Tenpyō Shōhō 4 and recorded here at once," telling us Yakamochi heard and wrote them down on that day in 752.
The poet, Ōtomo no Miyuki, a son of Ōtomo no Nagatoko, distinguished himself on Emperor Tenmu's side in the Jinshin War and rose to Grand Counselor; he was posthumously named Minister of the Right. He was the elder brother of Yakamochi's grandfather, Yasumaro.

First line, "ōkimi wa" (our sovereign), presents Emperor Tenmu as subject.
Second line, "kami ni shi maseba" (being a god): "shi" is emphatic and "masu" honorific, giving the ground for the great deed.
Third line, "akagoma no" (where red horses), introduces the scene of muddy fields.
Fourth line, "harabau tai o" (the paddies they wade belly-deep): "harabau" depicts horses floundering to the belly, the marshland before the capital.
Fifth line, "miyako to nashitsu" (he has made into a capital): "tsu" marks completion. It is the same line as the close of the next poem.
Author: Ōtomo no Miyuki
Source: Manyoshu
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