Iwaro ni wa ashifu takedomo sumiyoke o Tsukushi ni itarite kofushike mowamo

家ろには葦火焚けども住みよけを
筑紫に至りて恋しけ思はも

Roma-ji: Iwaro ni wa ashifu takedomo sumiyoke o Tsukushi ni itarite kofushike mowamo
English Translation: At home we burn reeds,
poor and humble is our hearth,
but it's good to live;
when I reach Tsukushi's shores
how I shall long for it then
Meaning: At home we burn only reeds, yet it is a good place to live; once I reach Tsukushi, how I shall long for it.
Commentary: Book Twenty Frontier Guard Poems 4419

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."
At home we burn mere reeds, yet it is good to live there; once in Tsukushi, how I shall long for it: the poem thinks of a poor but warm home. It is the seventh poem from Musashi, and the next poem is thought to be by this author's wife. Frankly describing a simple life of burning reeds for fuel, it carries the real feeling that such a home is the best to live in. Iwaro for iero and ashifu for ashibi are dialect forms.
The author, Mononobe no Mane, is recorded as a regular guard from Tachibana District in Musashi; nothing more is known of him.

The first line, "iwaro ni wa," "at home," with the suffix ro, is also used in a Kōzuke guard's poem.
The second line, "ashifu takedomo," "though we burn reeds for fire," shows a humble life.
The third line, "sumiyoke o," means "yet it is good to live in."
The fourth line, "Tsukushi ni itarite," "once I reach Tsukushi," imagines the days at his posting.
The closing line, "kofushike mowamo," "how I shall long for it," anticipates his homesickness.
Author: Mononobe no Mane
Source: Manyoshu
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