Nawa no ura ni shio yaku keburi yū sareba yukisugikanete yama ni tanabiku

縄の浦に塩焼く煙夕されば
行き過ぎかねて山にたなびく

Roma-ji: Nawa no ura ni shio yaku keburi yū sareba yukisugikanete yama ni tanabiku
English Translation: At the bay of Nawa
the smoke from the burning salt,
when the evening comes,
finding it hard to move on,
trails along the mountainside.
Meaning: The smoke of the salt fires at Nawa Bay, when evening comes, cannot drift away and hangs trailing on the mountain.
Commentary: Book Three Miscellaneous Poems 354

Headnote: "A poem by Heki no Oyu"
A landscape poem showing how, at Nawa Bay in Harima, the smoke from the salt fires, unable to drift away in the windless evening, hangs trailing on the mountain. The stillness of dusk and the labor of the shore blend in the rising smoke. Nawa Bay is thought to be near Naba in present-day Aioi, Hyōgo. Poem 357 in this book also sings of the same place, "from the bay of Nawa."
The poet, Heki no Oyu, lived in the Nara period, but little is known of him.

First line "At the bay of Nawa": a shore of Harima; the line has one syllable too many.
Second line "the smoke from the burning salt" is the smoke rising as seawater is boiled down for salt.
Third line "when the evening comes" means as evening falls.
Fourth line "finding it hard to move on" personifies the smoke, unable to pass on.
Fifth line "trails along the mountainside" ends on the quiet evening scene.
Author: Heki no Oyu
Source: Manyoshu
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