Shirushi naki mono o omowazu wa hitotsuki no nigoreru sake o nomubeku arurashi

験なきものを思はずは一杯の
濁れる酒を飲むべくあるらし

Roma-ji: Shirushi naki mono o omowazu wa hitotsuki no nigoreru sake o nomubeku arurashi
English Translation: Rather than brooding
on things that bring no good at all,
better, it would seem,
a single cup of cloudy wine
to drink down, and be done.
Meaning: Rather than brooding over things that do no good, it seems better to drink a single cup of cloudy sake.
Commentary: Book Three Miscellaneous Poems 338

Headnote: "Thirteen poems in praise of sake by the Governor-General of Dazaifu, Lord Ōtomo"
This is the first of the thirteen poems in praise of sake by the Governor-General Lord Ōtomo. Better to drink a cup of cloudy sake than to sink into useless brooding—so it sets out the theme of the sequence. Casting off idle worry and seeking comfort in wine becomes the starting point for the poems that follow.
The thirteen poems in praise of sake form a sequence in which Tabito, at Dazaifu, extols wine as a way of rejecting worldly cleverness and consoling life's sorrows, drawing on Chinese precedents such as the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove.
The poet, Ōtomo no Tabito, was a son of Ōtomo no Yasumaro. He served as Middle Counselor and Governor-General of Dazaifu before rising to Great Counselor, and died in Tenpyō 3 (731). Steeped in Chinese letters, he was at the center of a poetic circle with Yamanoue no Okura and others while serving in Tsukushi.

First line "on things that bring no good": shirushi means effect or worth.
Second line "Rather than brooding": zu wa means "instead of," "rather than worrying."
Third line "a single cup": hitotsuki is one cup. The eighth poem of the sequence also has "a single cup of cloudy wine," sharing the phrase.
Fourth line "of cloudy wine": nigoreru sake is unfiltered sake.
Fifth line "to drink down, and be done": beku expresses suitability and rashi inference—"it seems best to drink," stating the theme of the sequence.
Author: Ōtomo no Tabito
Source: Manyoshu
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