Sakimuri ni tatamu sawaki ni ie no imu ga narubeki koto o iwazu kinu kamo

防人に立たむ騒きに家の妹が
なるべきことを言はず来ぬかも

Roma-ji: Sakimuri ni tatamu sawaki ni ie no imu ga narubeki koto o iwazu kinu kamo
English Translation: In the bustle of
setting out as a frontier guard,
to my wife at home
about the work she must do
I came without a word said
Meaning: In the commotion of setting out as a frontier guard, I came away without telling my wife at home how she should manage our living.
Commentary: Book Twenty Frontier Guard Poems 4364

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 setting out I came away without telling my wife what work she must do: the poem worries over the livelihood of the wife left behind. It is the second poem from Hitachi, by the same author as the preceding one. Narubeki koto is thought to mean the work of making a living, and the poem shows concern for the hardship of a wife keeping the household. Sakimuri for sakimori and imu for imo are dialect forms.
The author, Wakatoneribe no Hirotari, was a guard from Ubaraki District in Hitachi; nothing more is known of him.

The first line, "sakimuri ni," "as a frontier guard," names his duty.
The second line, "tatamu sawaki ni," "in the commotion of setting out," is the same scene as "tachi no sawaki ni" in a Kazusa guard's poem.
The third line, "ie no imu ga," refers to the wife who stays at home.
The fourth line, "narubeki koto o," uses naru, "to make a living," for the work his wife must now do.
The closing line, "iwazu kinu kamo," "I came without saying it," ends in kamo with regret. It is the same feeling as a Suruga guard's regret at coming away without a word to his parents.
Author: Wakatoneribe no Hirotari
Source: Manyoshu
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