Tochihahae iwaite matane Tsukushi naru mizuku shiratama torite ku made ni

父母え斎ひて待たね筑紫なる
水漬く白玉取りて来までに

Roma-ji: Tochihahae iwaite matane Tsukushi naru mizuku shiratama torite ku made ni
English Translation: Father and mother,
keep yourselves pure as you wait
till from Tsukushi
the white pearls deep in the waves
I have gathered and come home
Meaning: Father and mother, keep yourselves pure and wait for me, until I gather the white pearls lying in the waters of Tsukushi and come home.
Commentary: Book Twenty Frontier Guard Poems 4340

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."
Father and mother, keep yourselves pure and wait, until I gather the white pearls of Tsukushi's waters and come home: the poem promises a safe return. It is the fourth poem from Suruga; in the words about bringing back white pearls as a gift lie his resolve to return and his love for his parents. Tochihaha is a dialect form of chichihaha, and e is a particle of address.
The author, Kawara no Mushimaro, was a guard from Suruga; nothing more is known of him.

The first line, "tochihahae," addresses father and mother in dialect form.
The second line, "iwaite matane," is the same as the closing line of the preceding poem: please keep yourselves pure and wait. The poem pauses here.
The third line, "Tsukushi naru," "which is in Tsukushi," names the guard's posting.
The fourth line, "mizuku shiratama," white jewels lying in the water, refers to pearls in the sea.
The closing line, "torite ku made ni," is inverted, adding afterward the term of waiting: until I bring them back.
Author: Kawara no Mushimaro
Source: Manyoshu
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