Kunimeguru atori kamakeri yukimeguri kairiku made ni iwaite matane

国廻るあとりかまけり行き廻り
帰り来までに斎ひて待たね

Roma-ji: Kunimeguru atori kamakeri yukimeguri kairiku made ni iwaite matane
English Translation: Like the birds that roam
through the lands, atori, kamakeri,
I shall roam and go;
till I come home once again
keep yourselves pure as you wait
Meaning: Like the atori and kamakeri birds that wander from land to land, I will travel round; until I come home, keep yourselves pure and wait for me.
Commentary: Book Twenty Frontier Guard Poems 4339

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."
Like the birds that roam from land to land I shall travel round; until I return, keep yourselves pure and wait: the poem entrusts his family with prayers for his safety. It is the third poem from Suruga, drawing on the custom by which those at home observed abstinence to pray for a traveler's safe return. Atori and kamakeri are thought to be bird names, though views differ on kamakeri. Kairi is a dialect form of kaeri.
The author, Osakabe no Mushimaro, was a guard from Suruga; nothing more is known of him.

The first line, "kunimeguru," "roaming through the lands," shows the habits of migrating birds.
The second line, "atori kamakeri," gives names thought to be migrating birds; the first two lines form a preface leading to "yukimeguri."
The third line, "yukimeguri," "going round," refers to his own travels as a guard, laying the birds of the preface over his journey.
The fourth line, "kairiku made ni," "until I come back," marks the span of waiting.
The closing line, "iwaite matane," uses iwau, "to keep oneself pure and pray," and ne, a request: please wait keeping yourselves pure. The next poem begins with the same words, carrying the wish on.
Author: Osakabe no Mushimaro
Source: Manyoshu
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