Umitsuji no naginamu toki mo wataranamu kaku tatsu nami ni funade subeshi ya

海つ道のなぎなむ時も渡らなむ
かく立つ波に船出すべしや

Roma-ji: Umitsuji no naginamu toki mo wataranamu kaku tatsu nami ni funade subeshi ya
English Translation: When the ocean paths
have grown calm and quiet again,
then I'd have you cross;
with the waves so rising now,
should you set your ship to sea?
Meaning: I wish you would cross when the sea road has grown calm. Should you set out by ship while the waves rise like this?
Commentary: Book Nine Love Poems 1781

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "A poem on parting from Lord Ōtomo at Karuno Bridge in Kashima District, with tanka"; envoy
The speaker begs the traveler to cross only when the sea has calmed, for he should not set out while the waves run so high. The sorrow of parting appears as a wish to hold back the departure.
This is the envoy to the long poem 1780 in this book. The long poem prepares a red-painted boat at Cape Kashima and says that when the lord sets out on the evening tide toward the port of Unakami, those left crowding the beach will roll about in longing and stamp their feet in tears. Whether Lord Ōtomo was Ōtomo no Tabito or Ōtomo no Michitari is debated, with no settled view.
The author, Takahashi no Mushimaro, was a poet of the early Nara period who is thought to have served under Fujiwara no Umakai when Umakai was governor of Hitachi. He excelled at long poems on local legends and the landscape of the eastern provinces. This poem is taken from the Mushimaro Collection, which is thought to consist mainly of his own works.

The first line, "when the ocean paths," uses tsu, an old form of no.
The second line, "have grown calm and quiet again," looks to a time when the sea will be still.
The third line, "then I'd have you cross," uses namu, a wish directed at another, and the poem pauses here.
The fourth line, "with the waves so rising now," points to the rough sea.
The final line, "should you set your ship to sea?" is rhetorical, responding to the departure scene in the long poem and trying to hold it back.
Author: Takahashi no Mushimaro (from the Mushimaro Collection)
Source: Manyoshu
Prev Poem: Inochi o shi masakiku mo ga mo nahoriyama iwa fuminarashi mata mata mo komu
Next Poem: Yuki koso ba haruhi kiyurame kokoro sae kieusetare ya koto mo kayowanu