Wagimoko wa haya mo konu ka to matsuramu o oki ni ya sumamu ie tsukazushite

我妹子は早も来ぬかと待つらむを
沖にや住まむ家つかずして

Roma-ji: Wagimoko wa haya mo konu ka to matsuramu o oki ni ya sumamu ie tsukazushite
English Translation: My dear wife
wonders, will he not come soon,
waiting, I am sure;
must I dwell out on the sea
never reaching home
Meaning: My dear wife must be waiting, wondering whether I will not come home soon; must I instead dwell out on the open sea, never reaching home?
Commentary: Book Fifteen Poems of the Envoys to Silla 3645

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "In the sea off Saba we suddenly met a contrary wind and drifted on swelling waves. After a night had passed we happily found a fair wind and reached Wakuma Bay in Shimotsumike District, Buzen Province. Recalling the hardship with pain and sorrow, we composed eight poems"
He laments that while his wife must be waiting, wondering whether he will not come home soon, he may end up dwelling out at sea without ever reaching home. The unease of wandering the sea at the mercy of contrary winds is expressed by the phrase "living out on the sea." The figure of the waiting wife and of himself stranded on the sea are contrasted as two places far apart.
According to the headnote, this is one of eight poems composed by the travelers recalling their ordeal: in the sea off Saba in Suō Province they suddenly met a contrary wind and drifted, and after a night found a fair wind and reached Wakuma Bay in Shimotsumike District, Buzen Province. The sea of Saba is thought to be off present-day Hōfu in Yamaguchi Prefecture, and Wakuma Bay near Nakatsu in Ōita Prefecture. Of the eight, only the first has its author named; the author of this poem is not named.

First line, "wagimoko wa": my dear wife.
Second line, "haya mo konu ka to": "nu ka" is the attributive of the negative "zu" with the interrogative "ka": will he not come soon, imagining his wife's words of longing.
Third line, "matsuramu o": "ramu" conjectures a present matter out of sight and "o" is adversative: though she must be waiting.
Fourth line, "oki ni ya sumamu": "ya" is an interrogative binding particle resolved by the attributive "mu": must I stay and dwell out at sea?
Fifth line, "ie tsukazushite": "tsuku" means to arrive: without reaching home. It is inverted with the fourth line.
Source: Manyoshu
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