Toetaomi Shiruha no iso to Nie no ura to aite shi araba koto mo kayuwamu

遠江志留波の磯と尓閇の浦と
合ひてしあらば言も通はむ

Roma-ji: Toetaomi Shiruha no iso to Nie no ura to aite shi araba koto mo kayuwamu
English Translation: Tōtōmi's rocky
shore of Shiruha and the
bay of Nie too,
if only they lay side by side,
words could pass between us still
Meaning: If only the rocky shore of Shiruha in Tōtōmi and the bay of Nie were joined together, we could still send words to each other.
Commentary: Book Twenty Frontier Guard Poems 4324

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Poems of the frontier guards sent in rotation to the provinces of Tsukushi in the second month of Tenpyō Shōhō 7, year of the wood sheep."
If only the shore of Shiruha at home and the bay of Nie were joined, words could still pass between us: the poem laments the widening distance from home. It is the fourth poem from Tōtōmi. Shiruha is thought to be a coastal place in Tōtōmi; the location of Nie is unknown, though some place it along the route. Toetaomi for Tōtōmi and kayuwamu for kayowamu are dialect forms.
The author, Hasetsukabe no Kawai, was a guard from Yamana District in Tōtōmi; nothing more is known of him.

The first line, "Toetaomi," is the name of his home province, recorded in dialect form.
The second line, "Shiruha no iso to," names the shore of home, listed with to.
The third line, "Nie no ura to," names a distant bay, setting the two places against each other.
The fourth line, "aite shi araba," is a counterfactual supposition: if the two places were joined into one.
The closing line, "koto mo kayuwamu," means "words too could pass," ending on a wish that cannot come true.
Author: Hasetsukabe no Kawai
Source: Manyoshu
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