Muko no umi no niwa yoku arashi isari suru ama no tsuribune nami no ue yu miyu

武庫の海の庭よくあらし漁りする
海人の釣舟波の上ゆ見ゆ

Roma-ji: Muko no umi no niwa yoku arashi isari suru ama no tsuribune nami no ue yu miyu
English Translation: The sea of Muko
must be calm today;
out fishing,
the fishermen's boats
are seen upon the waves
Meaning: The sea of Muko must be calm today, for the fishing boats of the fishermen can be seen out upon the waves.
Commentary: Book Fifteen Poems of the Envoys to Silla 3609

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Old poems recited to suit the place"
A descriptive poem: seeing the fishermen's boats out upon the waves, he surmises that the sea of Muko must be calm. It also carries a note of praise for the place, celebrating the sea's calm as a blessing of the land. According to the left note, in Hitomaro's poem the first line is "Kehi no umi no," and the fourth and fifth "karikomo no midarete izu miyu ama no tsuribune"; it corresponds to 256 in Book Three. The travelers recited a poem about the sea of Kehi on Awaji, substituting the sea of Muko through which they passed.
The author, Kakinomoto no Hitomaro, was the foremost poet of the Man'yōshū, active as a court poet in the reigns of Empress Jitō and Emperor Monmu, and left many fine travel poems and elegies. This poem has come down in a form in which his poem was altered by members of the embassy as they recited it.
According to the headnote, 3602 to 3610 of this book are old poems the travelers recited along the way as suited to the place. Poems not of their own making were thus taken into the travel sequence, showing how people of the time shared old poems and adapted them to the occasion.

First line, "Muko no umi no": the sea of Muko in Settsu Province, the offing of Muko Bay sung in 3578 at the head of the book and in 3595 of this book. Hitomaro's poem has "Kehi no umi no."
Second line, "niwa yoku arashi": "niwa" is a place of work such as fishing, here the sea surface; "rashi" is grounded inference: the sea seems calm. The poem breaks after the second line.
Third line, "isari suru": catching fish or shellfish, fishing.
Fourth line, "ama no tsuribune": the fishermen's boats; in Hitomaro's poem this is placed at the end, closing on a noun.
Fifth line, "nami no ue yu miyu": "yu" is a case particle of place: they are seen upon the waves. This sight is the ground for the inference of the second line.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro (variant)
Source: Manyoshu
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