Yasumishishi wago ōkimi no ōmifune machi ka kouramu shiga no karasaki

やすみしし我ご大君の大御船
待ちか恋ふらむ志賀の唐崎

Roma-ji: Yasumishishi wago ōkimi no ōmifune machi ka kouramu shiga no karasaki
English Translation: For the great ship
of our lord who rules the land
in all eight corners,
is it waiting, longing still—
Karasaki cape of Shiga?
Meaning: Is it waiting still and yearning for the great ship of our lord who ruled the land—the cape of Karasaki at Shiga?
Commentary: Book Two Elegies 152

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Two poems from the time of the great temporary enshrinement of the Emperor"
Treating Karasaki at Shiga as though it were a person, the poem wonders whether it still waits and longs for the great ship of the lord who will never return, conveying the loneliness of a lakeside that has lost its master.
This is the second of the two poems from the great temporary enshrinement of Emperor Tenji, and a small note, "Toneri no Enami," at its end identifies the author. The note has been removed from the text of the poem.
The author, Toneri no Enami, is otherwise unknown; some believe the author was a woman who served Emperor Tenji.

The first line, "yasumishishi," is a pillow word for "our great lord."
The second line, "wago ōkimi no," means "of our great lord," referring to Emperor Tenji.
The third line, "ōmifune," is the same as the third line of the preceding poem, the ship the Emperor rode.
In the fourth line, "machi ka kouramu," ka is an interrogative binding particle concluding in the attributive ramu: is it waiting and yearning?
The final line, "shiga no karasaki," names a place on the western shore of Lake Biwa in Ōmi, and ending on this noun personifies the cape. Together with "shiga sazarenami" in 206 by Okisome no Azumahito and "shigatsu" in 218 by Kakinomoto no Hitomaro in this book, it makes the waterside of Shiga a setting for elegy.
Author: Toneri no Enami
Source: Manyoshu
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