Ōmi no umi okitsu shimayama okumakete a ga omou imo ga koto no shigekeku

近江の海沖つ島山奥まけて
我が思ふ妹が言の繁けく

Roma-ji: Ōmi no umi okitsu shimayama okumakete a ga omou imo ga koto no shigekeku
English Translation: As the island hill
off the shore of Omi's sea,
deep within my heart
I love her, yet of my dear
how thick the gossip has grown
Meaning: Like the island hill offshore on the Sea of Omi, deep in my heart, and on into the future, I love her; yet how thick is the gossip about my beloved.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2439

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Feelings through Things"
The speaker laments that gossip keeps rising about the one he loves from the depths of his heart and with an eye to the future. With the island hill offshore on the Sea of Omi as a preface leading to "deep within," the poem sets a love that cherishes deeply against the gossip that obstructs it.
The opening two lines, "offshore on the Sea of Omi," are the same as in this book's poem 2435, and the next poem, 2440, also begins with "the Sea of Omi." Whereas the preceding poem, 2438, consoled the beloved that gossip lasts only a while, this poem laments its abundance, so that two poems on rumor are placed together.
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 shimayama": "the island hill offshore," thought to refer to Okishima in Lake Biwa. The lines up to here form a preface that leads, through the close sounds of oki, "offshore," and oku, "deep within," to the third line.
Third line, "okumakete": "holding deep in the heart, and on into the future." Taking up the distance of the island hill, it expresses both the depth and the length of love.
Fourth line, "a ga omou imo ga": "of my beloved whom I love," with the particle "ga" linking to "gossip" in the last line.
Fifth line, "koto no shigekeku": "how thick the gossip is." "Shigekeku" is the nominalized ku form of the adjective "shigeshi," ending the poem like a noun with a note of lament.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection
Source: Manyoshu
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