Hitogoto wa shimashi zo wagimo tsunade hiku umi yu masarite fukaku shi zo omou

人言はしましぞ我妹綱手引く
海ゆまさりて深くしぞ思ふ

Roma-ji: Hitogoto wa shimashi zo wagimo tsunade hiku umi yu masarite fukaku shi zo omou
English Translation: Gossip of others
is but for a little while, love,
more than the deep sea
where the towropes draw the boats,
so deeply do I love you
Meaning: The gossip of others lasts only a little while, my love. Deeper even than the sea where towropes draw the boats, so deeply do I love you.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2438

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Feelings through Things"
Speaking to a beloved troubled by gossip, the speaker consoles her that such talk lasts only a while, and reassures her that he loves her more deeply than the sea. Caring for one who worries about rumor, he vows the depth of his love by the sea.
Taking up the waves and seascapes of the preceding poems, this poem makes the very depth of the sea the measure of the depth of love. Its distinction lies in setting the brevity of gossip against the depth of feeling, so as to state firmly a love that will not change.
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, "hitogoto wa": "people's gossip," a word often found in Man'yoshu love poems as something that hinders love.
Second line, "shimashi zo wagimo": "is only for a while, my love." "Shimashi" means a little while; emphasized by "zo," it makes a declaration and calls to the beloved, so the poem breaks after the second line.
Third line, "tsunade hiku": a modifier functioning like a pillow word for "sea," drawn from towing boats with ropes through the shallows.
Fourth line, "umi yu masarite": "surpassing the sea." Here the particle "yu" marks the standard of comparison.
Fifth line, "fukaku shi zo omou": "so deeply do I love." Strengthened by "shi" and "zo," it closes with the attributive form of "omou" in a concord.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection
Source: Manyoshu
Prev Poem: Okitsumo o kakusō nami no ioenami chie shikushiku ni koiwataru kamo
Next Poem: Ōmi no umi okitsu shimayama okumakete a ga omou imo ga koto no shigekeku