Shiobune no okareba kanashi sanetsureba hitogoto shigeshi na o do kamo shimu

潮船の置かれば愛しさ寝つれば
人言繁し汝をどかもしむ

Roma-ji: Shiobune no okareba kanashi sanetsureba hitogoto shigeshi na o do kamo shimu
English Translation: Like a sea-going boat,
leave you be, and I long for you;
having lain with you,
the people's talk grows thick and loud—
what am I to do with you?
Meaning: Like a sea-going boat left on shore—leave you be and I miss you; sleep with you and the gossip grows thick. What am I to do with you?
Commentary: Book Fourteen Azuma Poems 3556

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Sōmon (Love Exchanges)"
Apart he longs for her; together the gossip is thick—the singer sings of being trapped in love either way. Its parallel structure shares the idea of 3466, "makanashimi nureba koto ni zu sanenaeba kokoro no oro ni norite kanashimo."
It is one of the love exchanges. Setting the second and fourth lines in parallel, it lays out the two pains of love side by side.
The poet is unknown. The Azuma uta are thought to have been sung among the people of the eastern provinces, and they are marked by plain, open-hearted expression mixed with local dialect.

First line, "shiobune no": A sea-going boat, a pillow word for "leaving" since boats are left on shore; the word also appears in the miscellaneous poem 3450.
Second line, "okareba kanashi": "Left alone, I long for you," paired with the fourth line; the poem pauses here.
Third line, "sanetsureba": "When we have slept together," the same idea as "nureba koto ni zu" in 3466.
Fourth line, "hitogoto shigeshi": "The gossip is thick," parallel to the second line; the poem pauses here too.
Final line, "na o do kamo shimu": "Do" is thought to be an eastern form of "nani," and "shimu" of "semu": what am I to do?
Source: Manyoshu
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