Unahara no okitsu nawanori uchinabiki kokoro mo shino ni omōyuru kamo

海原の沖つ縄海苔うち靡き
心もしのに思ほゆるかも

Roma-ji: Unahara no okitsu nawanori uchinabiki kokoro mo shino ni omōyuru kamo
English Translation: In the open sea,
the rope-weed far offshore
sways along the waves,
so my heart droops and bends,
as I think of you, my love
Meaning: Like the rope-weed swaying offshore in the open sea, my heart droops and bends as I think of you.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2779

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Feelings through Things"
Like the rope-weed swaying with the waves far offshore, the speaker's beloved comes to mind so deeply that the heart droops and bends. Over the image of swaying seaweed is laid the state of one who has yielded the heart wholly to love.
Following the jeweled seaweed of the preceding poem, it is another poem on seaweed, and together with the next poem, 2780, it forms a pair singing of swaying seaweed. "Kokoro mo shino ni" also appears in Book Three, poem 266, Kakinomoto no Hitomaro's "O plovers of the evening waves on the sea of Omi, when you cry, my heart droops as I think of the days of old," and expresses a feeling so deep that the heart is bowed down.
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, "unahara no": "of the open sea." It shows the wide ocean and draws the gaze out toward the offing.
Second line, "okitsu nawanori": "the rope-weed offshore." "Tsu" is an Old Japanese genitive particle, and nawanori is a long, thin seaweed like a rope.
Third line, "uchinabiki": "swaying with the waves." The first three lines form a preface, the swaying seaweed leading into the drooping heart; "uchi" is a prefix.
Fourth line, "kokoro mo shino ni": "until even my heart droops." "Shino ni" describes being wilted and crushed in spirit.
Fifth line, "omōyuru kamo": "how I think of you." "Omōyu" means to come naturally to mind, and "kamo" is exclamatory, ending with a longing that cannot be held back.
Source: Manyoshu
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