Ōbune no katori no umi ni ikari oroshi ika naru hito ka mono mowazu aramu

大船の香取の海にいかり下ろし
いかなる人か物思はずあらむ

Roma-ji: Ōbune no katori no umi ni ikari oroshi ika naru hito ka mono mowazu aramu
English Translation: In the sea of Katori
where great ships ply their rudders,
anchors are let down:
who among all people, then,
could live without love's sorrows
Meaning: As anchors are let down in the Sea of Katori where great ships sail, so what sort of person could ever live without the sorrows of longing?
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2436

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Feelings through Things"
Whatever sort of person one may be, who could live without the brooding of love? Everyone suffers it, says this poem. Using a preface of ships lowering anchors in the Sea of Katori, it leads by sound from ikari, "anchor," to ika naru, "what sort of," and speaks of a love-troubled heart as the lot of all people.
As to the location of the Sea of Katori, some take it to be the bay of Katori in Shimosa, others a place in Omi. The poem stands among the poems on the Sea of Omi, and the phrase "letting down anchor" appears also in poem 2440, so that the figure of a ship lowering its anchor is shared by both poems. In the original script "ikari" is written with the character meaning "to be angry," borrowing its sound to write "anchor."
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, "obune no": a pillow word attached to "Katori." It is thought to lead to katori from kaji tori, "taking the rudder" of a great ship.
Second line, "katori no umi ni": "in the Sea of Katori," naming a broad water where ships lie at anchor.
Third line, "ikari oroshi": "letting down anchor." The lines up to here form a preface, leading through the sound of ikari to ika naru in the fourth line.
Fourth line, "ika naru hito ka": "what sort of person." The particle "ka" is rhetorical and forms a concord with the last line.
Fifth line, "mono mowazu aramu": "could live without brooding?" Answering "ka" with the attributive of the auxiliary "mu," the rhetorical question declares that all people suffer the cares of love.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection
Source: Manyoshu
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