Niwanaka no Asuha no kami ni koshiba sashi are wa iwawamu kaeriku made ni

庭中の阿須波の神に小柴さし
我れは斎はむ帰り来までに

Roma-ji: Niwanaka no Asuha no kami ni koshiba sashi are wa iwawamu kaeriku made ni
English Translation: To the god Asuha
who dwells within our courtyard
I set sprigs of brush,
and I shall pray with pure heart
until I come home again
Meaning: Setting sprigs of brushwood before the god Asuha in the courtyard, I will pray with a pure heart until I come home again.
Commentary: Book Twenty Frontier Guard Poems 4350

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."
Setting sprigs of brush before the god Asuha in the courtyard, I will pray with a pure heart until I return: a prayer to the household god for a safe journey. It is the fourth poem from Kazusa. Asuha was thought to guard the foundations of the house, and the name appears in the Kojiki. The poem shows a simple faith of praying to the household god on setting out.
The author, Wakaomibe no Morohito, is recorded as a clerk guard from Kazusa; nothing more is known of him.

The first line, "niwanaka no," "within the courtyard," gives the place of worship inside the homestead.
The second line, "Asuha no kami ni," names the guardian god of the house, the object of prayer.
The third line, "koshiba sashi," means setting up small sprigs of brush, a ritual for honoring the god.
The fourth line, "are wa iwawamu," "I shall keep myself pure and pray," with the volitional mu. The poem pauses here.
The closing line, "kaeriku made ni," is inverted, adding the period of prayer: until I return. It is the same phrase as in a poem by a Suruga guard.
Author: Wakaomibe no Morohito
Source: Manyoshu
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