Ōbune no hatsuru tomari no tayutai ni monomoi yasenu hito no ko yue ni

大船の泊つる泊りのたゆたひに
物思ひ痩せぬ人の子故に

Roma-ji: Ōbune no hatsuru tomari no tayutai ni monomoi yasenu hito no ko yue ni
English Translation: As a great ship rocks
where it lies at anchorage,
so wavering, I
have wasted away with longing,
all for someone else's child.
Meaning: Like a great ship rocking where it lies at anchor, my heart has wavered and I have wasted away with longing, all for one who belongs to another.
Commentary: Book Two Love Poems 122

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Four poems by Prince Yuge in longing for Princess Ki"
Like a great ship rocking on the waves in harbor, his heart cannot settle, and he laments that he has wasted away with brooding. The sequence closes on the weariness of a love for one beyond his reach.
According to the headnote, these are four poems Prince Yuge composed in longing for Princess Ki. Princess Ki was a daughter of Emperor Tenmu and the prince's half-sister. The sequence moves from a wish that their love flow on unhindered, to a lament that he would rather scatter like a flower, to a resolve to seize the moment, and finally to a lament of wasting away with love. This is the fourth; its authorship follows the headnote of the sequence.
The author, Prince Yuge, was a son of Emperor Tenmu; his mother was Princess Ōe, a daughter of Emperor Tenji. He was the full younger brother of Prince Naga.

The first line, "ōbune no," is the same as the first line of 109 by Prince Ōtsu in this book.
The second line, "hatsuru tomari no," means "of the harbor where it anchors."
The preface runs through the third line, "tayutai ni," and from a ship rocking on the waves leads to the wavering of the heart.
In the fourth line, "monomoi yasenu," nu is perfective: I have grown thin with brooding. The poem pauses here.
The final line, "hito no ko yue ni," means "because of someone else's cherished daughter," naming one who cannot be his. By inversion, the object of his love comes last.
Author: Prince Yuge
Source: Manyoshu
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