Ōbune ni makaji shiji nuki kogu hoto mo kokoda kouru o toshi ni araba ika ni

大船に真楫しじ貫き漕ぐほとも
ここだ恋ふるを年にあらばいかに

Roma-ji: Ōbune ni makaji shiji nuki kogu hoto mo kokoda kouru o toshi ni araba ika ni
English Translation: On a mighty ship
with oars set close along its sides,
in one stroke's brief space
I long for you so greatly;
were it a year, what then?
Meaning: Even in the brief moment of one stroke of the oars set thick along a great ship, I long for you this much. What would become of me if it were a whole year?
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2494

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Feelings through Things"
Even in the brief space of a single stroke of a great ship's oars, the speaker longs this much, so what would become of him if they could not meet for a whole year? So the poem laments the longing of parting. Setting a fleeting moment against a full year, it brings out the sheer magnitude of love.
This poem speaks through a ship and seems to be composed from the standpoint of someone setting out on a sea journey, or of someone seeing a departure off. Measuring the depth of feeling by placing a short span of time beside a long one is one of the patterns of expression found in Man'yoshu love poems.
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, "ōbune ni": "on a great ship." From the first line through the third, the poem depicts a scene of setting out to sea.
Second line, "makaji shiji nuki": "with oars thickly set." "Makaji" are the oars on both sides of a ship, and "shiji nuku" means to fit them in great number, a common Man'yoshu phrase for setting sail.
Third line, "kogu hoto mo": "even in the space of a stroke." "Hoto" denotes an extent of time, and "mo" stresses "even in so short a while."
Fourth line, "kokoda kouru o": "I long so greatly, yet." "Kokoda" denotes a great degree, and "o" carries a concessive sense that leads into the last line.
Fifth line, "toshi ni araba ika ni": "if it were a year, what then?" This line has nine syllables, one of excess, and breaks off at "ika ni," leaving the rest of the thought unspoken.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection
Source: Manyoshu
Prev Poem: Takayama no mine yuku shishi no tomo o ōmi sode furazu kinu wasuru to omou na
Next Poem: Taratsune no haha ga kau ko no mayogomori komoreru imo o mimu yoshi mo ga mo