Okitsunami henami shizukemi isari suto fujie no ura ni fune zo sawakeru

沖つ波辺波静けみ漁りすと
藤江の浦に舟ぞ騒ける

Roma-ji: Okitsunami henami shizukemi isari suto fujie no ura ni fune zo sawakeru
English Translation: The waves offshore
and the waves along the shore are calm—
to go out fishing,
in Fujie Bay
the boats are all abustle
Meaning: The waves out at sea and the waves along the shore are calm, and so, to go out fishing, the boats bustle all about Fujie Bay.
Commentary: Book Six Miscellaneous Poems 939

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Three envoys"
This poem describes how, with the waves both offshore and along the shore lying calm, many boats have come out to fish in Fujie Bay, bustling with activity. By portraying the peaceful sea and the lively fishing boats upon it, it praises the abundance and tranquillity of the site of the progress.
The long poem immediately before (938) is titled "A poem composed by Yamabe no Sukune Akahito," and praises the scene at Fujii Bay in Inamino, ruled by the sovereign, where the fishers' boats bustle as they angle for tuna and crowds of people burn salt. It is placed after Kasa no Kanamura's poems from the Inamino progress of the ninth month of Jinki 3 (726), and seems to have been composed on the same progress. This poem is the first of its three envoys.
The "Fujii Bay" of the long poem and the "Fujie Bay" of this poem seem to refer to the same place, which is thought to lie around present-day Fujie in Akashi City, Hyōgo Prefecture.
The poet, Yamabe no Akahito, was a court poet of the early Nara period who accompanied imperial progresses, chiefly in the reign of Emperor Shōmu, and left many poems. His rank and career are unknown, but he excelled in lucid poems of landscape, and the Japanese preface to the Kokin Wakashū names him alongside Kakinomoto no Hitomaro.

The word "bustle" in this poem shares the verb "sawaku" with 927 in this book, "bustling about can be seen," so that the liveliness of the royal hunt at Yoshino and the liveliness of the fishing at Fujie Bay are depicted with the same word. And where 930 and 934 in this book inferred the fishers' boats from sound, this poem captures the boats gathered in the bay as a scene before the eyes.
The first line, "The waves offshore," means the waves out at sea, with "tsu" as an old attributive particle meaning "of."
The second line, "and the waves along the shore are calm," uses the "-mi" construction to express cause, meaning "since they are calm." Pairing "the waves offshore" in the first line with "the waves along the shore," it shows the calm of the whole sea.
The third line, "to go out fishing," uses "to" to express purpose, giving the reason the boats have come out.
The fourth line, "in Fujie Bay," names Fujie Bay in the province of Harima and fixes the place where the fishing boats gather.
The final line, "the boats are all abustle," completes the binding begun by the particle "zo" with "-ru," the attributive form of the continuative "ri," emphasizing the bustle of the many boats coming and going.
Author: Yamabe no Akahito
Source: Manyoshu
Prev Poem: Yukimeguri mitomo akame ya nakisumi no funase no hama ni shikiru shiranami
Next Poem: Inamino no asaji oshinabe sanuru yo no kenagaku shi areba ie shi shinowayu