Mizutori no tachi no isogi ni chichihaha ni monowazu kenite ima zo kuyashiki

水鳥の立ちの急ぎに父母に
物言はず来にて今ぞ悔しき

Roma-ji: Mizutori no tachi no isogi ni chichihaha ni monowazu kenite ima zo kuyashiki
English Translation: Like waterfowl rising
in the haste of setting out
to father and mother
I came away with no word,
and now how I regret it
Meaning: In the bustle of departure, sudden as waterfowl taking flight, I left without a word to my father and mother, and now how I regret it.
Commentary: Book Twenty Frontier Guard Poems 4337

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."
In the bustle of departure I came away without a word to my father and mother, and now I regret it: the poem voices regret welling up on the road. According to the left note, the governor of Suruga, Fuse no Hitonushi, as escort officer, presented twenty poems dated the seventh of the second month but actually on the ninth, and the clumsy ones were left out. This is the first of those recorded. Kenite is the eastern pronunciation of kinite, "having come," recorded as spoken. A poem from Shimotsuke also regrets leaving without a word to mother and father, voicing the same feeling.
The author, Udobe no Ushimaro, is recorded as a regular guard from Suruga; nothing more is known of him.

The first line, "mizutori no," "like waterfowl," is a pillow word for tachi, "rising," from the way waterfowl take off together.
The second line, "tachi no isogi ni," means "in the haste of setting out," showing a sudden departure as a guard.
The third line, "chichihaha ni," names those to whom he should have spoken.
The fourth line, "monowazu kenite," "coming away without a word," regrets that he gave no farewell.
The closing line, "ima zo kuyashiki," is resolved by zo with the attributive kuyashiki, stressing the feeling that rises "now," on the road.
Author: Udobe no Ushimaro
Source: Manyoshu
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