Kaze fukeba nami ka tatamu to samorai ni tsuda no hosoe ni uragakuri ori

風吹けば波か立たむとさもらひに
都太の細江に浦隠り居り

Roma-ji: Kaze fukeba nami ka tatamu to samorai ni tsuda no hosoe ni uragakuri ori
English Translation: Since the wind blows hard,
fearing the waves may rise up,
waiting for the time,
in the narrow creek of Tsuda,
I stay, hidden in the bay
Meaning: Because the wind is blowing and the waves may rise, I wait for a better time, sheltering in the bay within the narrow creek of Tsuda.
Commentary: Book Six Miscellaneous Poems 945

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Three envoys"
This poem tells how, fearing that the wind will raise the waves, the poet brings his boat into the narrow creek of Tsuda and waits there, watching the weather. The long poem immediately before it (942) is titled "A poem composed by Yamabe no Sukune Akahito when passing the island of Karani," and laments that as the poet, parted from his wife, sails on past Nojima in Awaji and looks toward home between the islands of Karani, the blue hills cannot be seen, screened off by white clouds. This poem is the last of the three envoys.
Taking up the long poem's lament, "for the days of travel are long," it depicts in plain narration the frustration of a voyage that cannot go forward and must linger in a cove. The narrow creek of Tsuda is thought to be an inlet near Tsuda in Shikama Ward, Himeji City, Hyōgo Prefecture.
The poet, Yamabe no Akahito, was a court poet of the early Nara period who accompanied Emperor Shōmu on his progresses and left many poems of praise. He excelled at poems that depict natural scenery with clarity and calm, and later generations revered him, alongside Kakinomoto no Hitomaro, as a sage of poetry.

The first line, "Since the wind blows hard," states a given condition and supplies the reason for the worry in the second line.
In the second line, "fearing the waves may rise up," "ka" is an interrogative binding particle concluded by "-mu," meaning "will the waves rise?" Taken up by "to," it gives the reason for the action in the third line.
The third line, "waiting for the time," means waiting to see how things turn out, referring to the practice on sea voyages of watching the weather and tides before setting out.
The fourth line, "in the narrow creek of Tsuda," names the long, narrow inlet where the boat has put in.
The final line, "I stay, hidden in the bay," means remaining sheltered within the inlet. It pairs with the first line of the preceding poem, 944, "Hid behind islands," setting side by side two aspects of a sea journey: a boat moving on in the lee of the islands and a boat shut in a bay, unable to move.
Author: Yamabe no Akahito
Source: Manyoshu
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