Tabi to edo matabi ni narinu ie no mo ga kiseshi koromo ni aka tsukinikari

旅とへど真旅になりぬ家の妹が
着せし衣に垢付きにかり

Roma-ji: Tabi to edo matabi ni narinu ie no mo ga kiseshi koromo ni aka tsukinikari
English Translation: Though they call it a trip,
it has become a true journey:
the robe my wife
at home put on me to wear
has grown grimy now with dirt
Meaning: They call it a journey, but it has become a real, long one; the robe my wife dressed me in at home is now stained with grime.
Commentary: Book Twenty Frontier Guard Poems 4388

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."
Though they call it a journey, it has become a true long one; the robe my wife put on me has grown grimy: the poem feels the length of the road in the soiling of a garment. It is the fifth poem from Shimōsa. Through the concrete detail of a robe dressed on him by his wife growing dirty, it conveys both the days gone by and his love for her. Tabi to edo for tabi to iedo, mo for imo, and nikari for nikeri are dialect forms.
The author, Urabe no Mushimaro, was a guard from Shimōsa; nothing more is known of him.

The first line, "tabi to edo," means "though they call it a journey."
The second line, "matabi ni narinu," "it has become a true journey," ends the first sentence.
The third line, "ie no mo ga," "my wife at home," refers to the wife left behind.
The fourth line, "kiseshi koromo ni," "on the robe she dressed me in," refers to her care at his departure.
The closing line, "aka tsukinikari," "grime has settled," ends with his sense of how long the journey has been.
Author: Urabe no Mushimaro
Source: Manyoshu
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