Ōkimi no mikoto kashikomi aokumu no tonobiku yama o koyote kinukamu

大君の命畏み青雲の
とのびく山を越よて来ぬかむ

Roma-ji: Ōkimi no mikoto kashikomi aokumu no tonobiku yama o koyote kinukamu
English Translation: Our great lord's command
I received with awe and dread,
and the mountains where
the blue-gray clouds trail and drift
I have crossed and come away
Meaning: In awe of my lord's command, I have crossed the mountains where the blue clouds trail, and come all this way.
Commentary: Book Twenty Frontier Guard Poems 4403

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 awe of my lord's command, I have crossed the mountains where blue clouds trail and come away: the poem sings of the feeling of having crossed the mountains of home. According to the left note, it closes the poems from Shinano. Looking back on the long way over Shinano's high mountains, he feels how far he is from home. Aokumu for aokumo, tonobiku for tanabiku, and koyote for koete are dialect forms, and kinukamu is thought to stand for kinu kamo.
The author, Ohatsusebe no Kasamaro, was a guard from Shinano; nothing more is known of him.

The first line, "ōkimi no," recurs throughout the guards' poems.
The second line, "mikoto kashikomi," "in awe of the command," is a set phrase of these poems.
The third line, "aokumu no," means clouds with a bluish tinge, showing clouds hanging on high mountains.
The fourth line, "tonobiku yama o," "the mountains where they trail," recalls the high peaks of Shinano.
The closing line, "koyote kinukamu," "I have crossed and come," ends with the feeling of having come so far.
Author: Ohatsusebe no Kasamaro
Source: Manyoshu
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