Koto sakeba oki yu sakenamu minato yori hetsukau toki ni sakubeki mono ka

こと放けば沖ゆ放けなむ港より
辺著かふ時に放くべきものか

Roma-ji: Koto sakeba oki yu sakenamu minato yori hetsukau toki ni sakubeki mono ka
English Translation: If you must part us,
better part us far offshore;
from the harbor mouth,
as we draw near to the beach—
is that the time to part us?
Meaning: If you must part us, then part us out at sea—is it right to pull us apart just as we come from the harbor to reach the shore?
Commentary: Book Seven Allegorical Poems 1402

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On Boats"
If they are to be parted, the poet pleads, let it be while still offshore—how can one part them just as the boat is coming in from the harbor to the shore? The boat about to land stands for a love on the verge of fulfillment, voicing resentment at being torn apart at that very moment.
It is the fifth of the poems on boats and the last tanka in the section of allegorical poems. The section ends with one sedōka that follows. The poet is unknown.

The first line, "If you must part us," means "if parting is to happen anyway."
In the second line, "namu" expresses a wish addressed to another: "part us far offshore." The poem pauses here.
The third line, "from the harbor mouth," gives the starting point.
The fourth line, "as we draw near to the beach," stands for the moment when love is about to be fulfilled.
The final line, "is that the time to part us?," is rhetorical: surely it is not.
Source: Manyoshu
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