Tama no o no utsushigokoro ya yasoka kake kogidemu fune ni okurete oramu

玉の緒の現し心や八十楫懸け
漕ぎ出む船に後れて居らむ

Roma-ji: Tama no o no utsushigokoro ya yasoka kake kogidemu fune ni okurete oramu
English Translation: Like a jewel's cord,
can I keep my waking mind,
when the ship sets out
rowed by eighty oars, and I
am left behind on shore
Meaning: Can I keep my right mind when the ship, fitted with countless oars, rows out and I am left behind?
Commentary: Book Twelve Dialogue Poems 3211

Headnote: "Dialogue Poems"
A woman laments that she cannot keep her right mind, left behind as the ship fitted with countless oars rows out. With the man's reply in the next poem it forms a question-and-answer pair, singing of parting at a ship's departure from both sides. The headnote, "Dialogue Poems," marks a category that gathers poems of address together with their replies.
The poet is unknown. Book Twelve, titled the second part of "Love Poems Exchanged Old and New," gathers love poems by people whose names have not come down to us, arranged by category.

Line one, "tama no o no," is taken as a pillow word for "utsushigokoro," though how it connects is debated.
Line two, "utsushigokoro ya," means "could I keep my right mind?", with "ya" a rhetorical question concluded by the attributive "mu" in line five. The word "utsushigokoro" also appears in poem 2960 in this book.
Line three, "yasoka kake," means "fitted with countless oars," describing a large ship. The next poem opens with the same line.
Line four, "kogidemu fune ni," means "the ship that will row out."
Line five, "okurete oramu," means "left behind."
Author: Unknown
Source: Manyoshu
Prev Poem: Ashihiki no katayama kigishi tachiyukamu kimi ni okurete utsushikeme ya mo
Next Poem: Yasoka kake shimagakurinaba wagimoko ga tomare to furamu sode mieji kamo