Iza kodomo tawawaza na se so ametsuchi no katameshi kuni zo Yamatoshimane wa

いざ子どもたはわざなせそ天地の
堅めし国ぞ大和島根は

Roma-ji: Iza kodomo tawawaza na se so ametsuchi no katameshi kuni zo Yamatoshimane wa
English Translation: Come now, all of you,
do nothing rash or foolish!
By heaven and earth
this land was made firm and fast,
these islands of Yamato
Meaning: Come now, all of you, do nothing foolish! This land of Yamato was made firm by the gods of heaven and earth.
Commentary: Book Twenty Miscellaneous Poems 4487

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On the eighteenth day of the eleventh month of Tenpyō Hōji 1, a banquet in the palace; two poems."
Come now, all of you, do nothing foolish; this land of Yamato was made firm by heaven and earth: the poem admonishes the courtiers. The left note says it was presented by the Inner Minister Fujiwara. Taking up the Crown Prince's blessing of an eternal reign, it is thought to warn against would-be rebels, with the Tachibana no Naramaro conspiracy of that year in mind.
The author, Fujiwara no Nakamaro, was a son of Fujiwara no Muchimaro. At this time, as Inner Minister of the Shibi office, he held real power over the government.

The first line, "iza kodomo," "come, all of you," addresses the courtiers gathered at the banquet.
The second line, "tawawaza na se so," uses tawawaza, "foolish deeds," with na...so for prohibition. The poem pauses here.
The third line, "ametsuchi no," takes up "ametsuchi o," the first line of the preceding poem.
The fourth line, "katameshi kuni zo," "it is a land made firm," with the emphatic zo.
The closing line, "Yamatoshimane wa," is inverted, naming the subject at the end: the land of Yamato.
Author: Fujiwara no Nakamaro
Source: Manyoshu
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