Unahara no okibe ni tomoshi izaru hi wa akashite tomose Yamatoshima mimu

海原の沖辺に灯し漁る火は
明かして灯せ大和島見む

Roma-ji: Unahara no okibe ni tomoshi izaru hi wa akashite tomose Yamatoshima mimu
English Translation: Out on the wide sea,
those fires lit in the offing
for the night fishing,
make them burn bright for me,
I would see the isle of Yamato
Meaning: You fires lit for fishing out on the offing of the wide sea, burn brighter; I long to see the land of Yamato.
Commentary: Book Fifteen Poems of the Envoys to Silla 3648

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 calls to the fishing fires in the offing to burn brighter, for he wishes to see the land of Yamato. Distant Yamato could never be seen by the light of fishing fires, yet the poem expresses an aching homesickness that longs to see it all the same. "Yamatoshima" is a term viewing the mountains of Yamato from the sea as if they were an island, echoing "Yamatoshima miyu," the last line of Hitomaro's poem recorded in the left note to 3608 of this book.
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, "unahara no": of the wide sea.
Second line, "okibe ni tomoshi": lighting fires in the offing, the fires of night fishing.
Third line, "izaru hi wa": "izaru" means to fish: the fishing fires. Here he addresses them.
Fourth line, "akashite tomose": he commands them to burn bright. The poem breaks after the fourth line.
Fifth line, "Yamatoshima mimu": "Yamatoshima" views the land of Yamato from the sea as if an island, and "mu" is intention: I will see Yamato, the poem ends.
Source: Manyoshu
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