Lord Ōtomo no Sadehiko, on receiving a special imperial command, was sent to a distant land as an ambassador. Readying his boat, he set sail and gradually became more distant on the aquamarine surface of the sea. His wife, Matsura no Sayohime, grieving at how easily people were parted in this world, sorrowed at the thought of how difficult it would be to meet her husband once more. So, she climbed to the top of Mount Takayama and, gazing at the boat growing ever more distant, in an extreme of loss cut open her belly, feeling that her soul was gone and the world was in darkness before her eyes. Then, at the last, she waved her stole. Of the folk who accompanied her, there was not one who was not in tears. It was from these events that the peak became known as Mount Hirefuri (‘Stole-wave’), and this poem was composed.

遠つ人松浦佐用姫夫恋ひに領巾振りしより負へる山の名