Mikoshiosa no koe sakidatete kudarimasu o to kashikomaru kami no miyabito

御輿長の声先立てて下ります
をとかしこまる神の宮人

Roma-ji: Mikoshiosa no koe sakidatete kudarimasu o to kashikomaru kami no miyabito
English Translation: The chief bearer's cry
goes before the shrine's palanquin
as the god descends;
answering "O!" they bow in awe,
the attendants of the god.
Meaning: With the chief bearer's call going before, the sacred palanquin descends; answering "O!" the god's attendants bow in reverence.
Commentary: One Hundred Poems 1528

Headnote: "Ten Poems on the Gods: Two Poems on Otokoyama: The Hōjōe Rite"
The second of two poems on Otokoyama, on the Hōjōe rite. As the palanquin descends the hill, led by the chief bearer's call, the god's attendants answer "O" and bow in reverence.
The Hōjōe is a rite of releasing captured creatures to warn against taking life, and at Iwashimizu Hachiman it was held with the god's palanquin descending Otokoyama. The leading call and the people bowing in answer convey the solemnity of the rite. Against the vigor of the horse race in the preceding poem, this one sings of a quiet, solemn procession of the god.

First line, “mikoshiosa no”: of the chief of the palanquin bearers; the line has an extra syllable.
Second line, “koe sakidatete”: sending his call ahead.
Third line, “kudarimasu”: the palanquin descends the hill; the poem breaks here.
Fourth line, “o to kashikomaru”: o is taken as a cry answering the leader's call, "answering 'O' they bow."
Fifth line, “kami no miyabito”: the people who serve the god; ending on a noun.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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