Ōmi no umi oki kogu fune no ikari oroshi komorite kimi ga koto matsu ware zo

近江の海沖漕ぐ舟のいかり下ろし
隠りて君が言待つ我れぞ

Roma-ji: Ōmi no umi oki kogu fune no ikari oroshi komorite kimi ga koto matsu ware zo
English Translation: As a boat rowing
off the shore of Omi's sea
lets its anchor down,
so I keep hidden, waiting
for some word from you, my lord
Meaning: As a boat rowing offshore on the Sea of Omi lets down its anchor and stays, so I stay hidden away, I who wait for word from you.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2440

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Feelings through Things"
Like a boat rowing offshore that lets down its anchor and stays still, the speaker keeps hidden from others' eyes and waits single-mindedly for word from her beloved. Since she addresses him as "kimi," the poem is taken to be in a woman's voice, expressing the ache of waiting by one who cannot move.
Following the preceding poem, it again begins with "the Sea of Omi," and it uses the same phrase "letting down anchor" as poem 2436. Whereas in 2436 ikari leads through its sound to ika naru, "what sort of," here the image of a boat staying at anchor leads to "keeping hidden," so the same phrase is put to a different use. This poem is written in the fuller script style among the poems of the Hitomaro Collection.
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, "oki kogu fune no": "as a boat rowing offshore," picturing a boat moving across the broad lake.
Third line, "ikari oroshi": "letting down anchor." It also has six syllables, and the lines up to here form a preface that leads, through a boat staying in one place at anchor, to "keeping hidden" in the fourth line.
Fourth line, "komorite kimi ga": "staying hidden, your," depicting the speaker shut away from others' eyes, waiting.
Fifth line, "koto matsu ware zo": "I who wait for your word." The final "zo" makes a strong declaration, closing on the image of herself as one who waits.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection
Source: Manyoshu
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