Waga sena o Tsukushi e yarite utsukushimi obi wa tokanana aya ni kamo nemo

我が背なを筑紫へ遣りて愛しみ
帯は解かななあやにかも寝も

Roma-ji: Waga sena o Tsukushi e yarite utsukushimi obi wa tokanana aya ni kamo nemo
English Translation: Having sent my man
far away to Tsukushi,
so dear is he that
with my sash still tied I'll lie
and sleep in helpless longing
Meaning: Having sent my husband away to Tsukushi, I love him so that I shall sleep without untying my sash, lost in longing.
Commentary: Book Twenty Frontier Guard Poems 4422

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."
Having sent my husband to Tsukushi, I love him so that I shall sleep with my sash tied, in helpless longing: the poem sings of a wife's nights thinking of her husband. It is the tenth poem from Musashi and is thought to be by the wife of Hatoribe no Oyu, author of the preceding poem. Sleeping without untying her sash to be one in heart with his nights on the road is the same feeling as "I will sleep without untying my sash" in the wife's poem two before. A poem much like this also appears among the guards' poems of former years recorded later.
The author, Hatoribe no Azame, is recorded as a guard's wife and is thought to be the wife of Hatoribe no Oyu; nothing more is known of her.

The first line, "waga sena o," "my husband," uses sena, an affectionate word.
The second line, "Tsukushi e yarite," means "having sent him off to Tsukushi."
The third line, "utsukushimi," "because he is dear," uses mi of cause.
The fourth line, "obi wa tokanana," "without untying my sash," is an eastern expression.
The closing line, "aya ni kamo nemo," "shall I sleep in helpless longing?" ends with kamo, exclamation tinged with doubt.
Author: Hatoribe no Azame
Source: Manyoshu
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