Kaji no oto zo honoka ni sunaru ama otome okitsumo kari ni funade surashi mo

楫の音ぞほのかにすなる海人娘子
沖つ藻刈りに舟出すらしも

Roma-ji: Kaji no oto zo honoka ni sunaru ama otome okitsumo kari ni funade surashi mo
English Translation: The creak of the oars
faintly I can hear it now;
the fisher girls
to cut seaweed far offshore
are setting out, it seems
Meaning: Faintly I hear the sound of oars—the fisher girls must be setting out in their boats to cut seaweed far offshore.
Commentary: Book Seven Miscellaneous Poems 1152

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Composed in Settsu"
From the faint sound of oars, the poet guesses that fisher girls are setting out to cut seaweed offshore. It is a quiet landscape poem in which the life of the seaside people is imagined from a sound reaching the ear.
It is one of the poems composed in Settsu. The text adds a variant, "One version says: when evening comes, I hear the sound of oars," showing that some copies set the first two lines at dusk. The poet is unknown.

In the first line, "The creak of the oars," the particle "zo" is answered by the attributive "naru" in the second line. The line has an extra syllable.
In the second line, "naru" is inference from sound: "it seems faintly to be heard." Closing the "zo" construction, the poem pauses here.
The third line, "the fisher girls," refers to young women who work at sea.
The fourth line, "to cut seaweed far offshore," states their purpose.
In the final line, "rashi" is inference from evidence, with the exclamatory "mo."
Source: Manyoshu
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