Okibe yori shio michikurashi Kara no ura ni asari suru tazu nakite sawakinu

沖辺より潮満ち来らし可良の浦に
あさりする鶴鳴きて騒きぬ

Roma-ji: Okibe yori shio michikurashi Kara no ura ni asari suru tazu nakite sawakinu
English Translation: From out in the offing
the tide seems to be rising;
in the bay of Kara
the cranes that seek their food
are crying in a clamor
Meaning: The tide seems to be rising from the offing, for in the bay of Kara the foraging cranes are crying in a clamor.
Commentary: Book Fifteen Poems of the Envoys to Silla 3642

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Four poems composed on the night the ship anchored at Kumage Bay"
A descriptive poem: hearing the cranes foraging in the bay of Kara cry in a clamor, he surmises that the tide must be rising from the offing. It shows fine observation of nature, knowing the tide's rise from the stir of the cranes. In 3598 of this book, made at Tama Bay in Bitchū, "asari suru tazu" also appeared, with the same device of knowing the passage of time from the cranes' cries. The location of Kara Bay is unknown.
According to the headnote, this is one of four poems composed on the night the ship anchored at Kumage Bay, a bay in Kumage District, Suō Province; one view places it near present-day Kaminoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture. Of the four, only the first has its author named; the author of this poem is not named.

First line, "okibe yori": from the area of the offing.
Second line, "shio michikurashi": "rashi" is an auxiliary of grounded inference: the tide seems to be rising. The poem breaks after the second line.
Third line, "Kara no ura ni": thought to be a bay near Kumage Bay, but its location is unknown.
Fourth line, "asari suru tazu": "asaru" means to search for food; the same line as the fourth line of 3598 of this book.
Fifth line, "nakite sawakinu": "sawaku" means to clamor: the cranes stirring as the rising tide drives them from their feeding grounds. This scene is the ground for the inference of the second line.
Source: Manyoshu
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