Ōbune no tayutau umi ni ikari oroshi ika ni seba kamo a ga koi yamamu

大船のたゆたふ海にいかり下ろし
いかにせばかも我が恋やまむ

Roma-ji: Ōbune no tayutau umi ni ikari oroshi ika ni seba kamo a ga koi yamamu
English Translation: In the great ship's sea,
the waters swaying and rocking,
the anchor is dropped;
by doing what, I wonder,
will this love of mine come to rest
Meaning: As a great ship drops its anchor in the swaying sea, how, I wonder, how can I make this love of mine come to an end?
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2738

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Feelings through Things"
Taking as a preface a great ship dropping anchor in the swaying sea, the poem broods over how the pain of this love might ever be stilled. The rocking ship suggests a heart that cannot settle, and the poem conveys the helplessness of searching for a way to calm it and finding none.
As a poem expressing feelings through things, it speaks through a great ship dropping anchor at sea. By repeating the sounds of "ikari" (anchor) in "ika ni" (how), it turns from the scene to the heart. The fifth line asks whether "this love of mine will cease," and "yamu toki mo nashi" ("it never ceases") in poem 2741 of this book seems to answer that question by declaring that love never ends. A poem beginning with "Ōbune no" also appears in poem 2740.
The author is unknown. The anonymous poems of Book Eleven gather the love poems of people whose names have not come down to us.

First line, "Ōbune no": "of a great ship." In the Man'yoshu the great ship often appears as something to rely on, and also as something that sways.
Second line, "tayutau umi ni": "in the sea where it sways and drifts." "Tayutau" means to rock without settling, and it also suggests a restless heart in love.
Third line, "ikari oroshi": "dropping the anchor." The original script writes it with characters for "weight stone," hinting at the ancient anchors made of stone. The first three lines form a preface, and the sound of "ikari" leads into "ika ni" in the fourth line.
Fourth line, "ika ni seba kamo": "by doing what." "Seba" is the irrealis of the verb "su" with "ba," forming a supposition, and the particle "kamo" poses the question.
Fifth line, "a ga koi yamamu": "will my love cease?" Answering "kamo" in the fourth line, it closes with the attributive form of the conjectural "mu" in a kakari-musubi construction, voicing the grief of seeking a way to quiet love and finding none.
Source: Manyoshu
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