Ōmi no umi okitsu shiranami shirazu tomo imogari to iwaba nanuka koekomu

近江の海沖つ白波知らずとも
妹がりといはば七日越え来む

Roma-ji: Ōmi no umi okitsu shiranami shirazu tomo imogari to iwaba nanuka koekomu
English Translation: White waves offshore
upon the sea of Omi:
though I know not the way,
if it is to my love's side,
I would cross for seven days
Meaning: Like the white waves offshore on the Sea of Omi: even if I do not know the way, if it is to go to my beloved, I would cross over for seven days to come.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2435

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Feelings through Things"
Even without knowing the way, if it is to go to his beloved, the speaker would cross the mountains though it take seven days. Using the white waves offshore on the Sea of Omi as a preface, the poem sings generously of a passion that shrinks from no distance.
Following the waves on the rocky shore in the preceding poem, it takes up the white waves of the Sea of Omi, that is, Lake Biwa. The opening "the Sea of Omi" appears also in poems 2439, 2440, and 2445, and poem 2445 in particular shares this poem's device of leading to "not knowing" through the sound of shira, here from "white jewels."
The author is unknown; according to the left note, the poem comes from the Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection. That collection is thought to contain both Hitomaro's own poems and poems by others that he recorded. Kakinomoto no Hitomaro was a court poet active in the reigns of Empress Jito and Emperor Monmu, and is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "omi no umi": the Sea of Omi, that is, Lake Biwa. The line has six syllables, one more than the norm.
Second line, "okitsu shiranami": "the white waves offshore." "Tsu" is an old particle equivalent to "no," and the lines up to here form a preface leading, through the sound of shira, "white," to "not knowing" in the third line.
Third line, "shirazu tomo": "even if I do not know," understood as not knowing the way. "Tomo" expresses a concessive supposition.
Fourth line, "imogari to iwaba": "if it is to my beloved's side." "Gari" attaches to a word for a person and means "to that person's place."
Fifth line, "nanuka koekomu": "I would come across for seven days." The auxiliary "mu" expresses will, closing on a firm resolve to go however far it may be.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection
Source: Manyoshu
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