Waga fune wa Hira no minato ni kogihatemu okie na sakari sayo fukenikeri

我が舟は比良の港に漕ぎ泊てむ
沖へな離りさ夜更けにけり

Roma-ji: Waga fune wa Hira no minato ni kogihatemu okie na sakari sayo fukenikeri
English Translation: This boat of mine now
to the harbor of Hira
let us row and moor—
do not drift toward the offing,
for the night has grown so late.
Meaning: Let us row my boat into the harbor of Hira and moor there. Do not stray out toward the open water—the night has grown late.
Commentary: Book Three Miscellaneous Poems 274

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Eight travel poems by Takechi no Muraji Kurohito"
This is the fifth of Kurohito's eight travel poems. In a boat on Lake Biwa at night, he calls to the rowers to put in at the harbor of Hira and stop for the night. His unease at drifting toward the dark open water and his loneliness in the deep night are frankly expressed. Hira lies on the west shore of the lake at the foot of Mount Hira.
Kurohito's eight travel poems gather pieces composed on journeys through Settsu, Owari, Ōmi, Mikawa, Yamashiro, and other provinces.
The poet, Takechi no Kurohito, was active from the reign of Jitō to that of Monmu. Excelling in travel poems, he opened a distinctive vein of landscape poetry marked by a solitary gaze upon receding things. Little is known of his life.

First line "This boat of mine" is the boat he rides in.
Second line "to the harbor of Hira": Hira lies on the west shore of Lake Biwa, in today's northern Ōtsu.
Third line "let us row and moor": hatsu means to arrive and anchor, mu expresses intention, and the sentence breaks here.
Fourth line "do not drift toward the offing": na is a prohibitive adverb; the sentence breaks again.
Fifth line "for the night has grown so late": sa is a prefix, and the realization that the night has deepened closes the poem and gives the reason for mooring.
Author: Takechi no Kurohito
Source: Manyoshu
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