Wagimoko ga katami ni mimu o Inamitsuma shiranami takami yoso ni ka mo mimu

我妹子が形見に見むを印南都麻
白波高み外にかも見む

Roma-ji: Wagimoko ga katami ni mimu o Inamitsuma shiranami takami yoso ni ka mo mimu
English Translation: As a keepsake
of my love I would gaze on it,
Inamitsuma,
but the white waves run so high
must I see it from afar
Meaning: I long to gaze on Inamitsuma as a keepsake of my wife, yet the white waves run so high that I must see it only from afar.
Commentary: Book Fifteen Poems of the Envoys to Silla 3596

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "The envoys sent to Silla grieve at parting and exchange poems, express their sorrowful feelings on the sea route, and recite old poems suited to the places they pass"
Overlaying "tsuma" (wife) on the "tsuma" in the place name Inamitsuma, he laments that though he wishes to view it up close as a keepsake of his wife, the white waves are so high that he can only see it from afar. The idea of seeing a loved one in a place name is common in travel poems, and it reflects the lot of a voyager who can only pass by. Inamitsuma is thought to have been an island near the mouth of the Kako River in Harima Province.
A left note reads "the above eight poems were composed after boarding the ship and entering the sea route"; the eight poems from 3594 to 3601 were made once the ship had put out to sea. The author is not named.

First line, "wagimoko ga": "wagimoko" is an affectionate name for one's dear wife.
Second line, "katami ni mimu o": a "katami" is a keepsake recalling someone far away; "o" is adversative: though I would gaze on it as a keepsake.
Third line, "Inamitsuma": an island near the mouth of the Kako River in Harima Province; because "tsuma" echoes "wife," it is made the object of the keepsake in the second line.
Fourth line, "shiranami takami": "takami" is the stem of "takashi" with "mi," giving a cause: since the white waves are high.
Fifth line, "yoso ni ka mo mimu": "yoso" means somewhere apart, far away; "ka mo" is an exclamation with a question, expressing frustration at being unable to draw near.
Source: Manyoshu
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