Kaze no muta yosekuru nami ni isari suru ama otomera ga mo no suso nurenu

風の共寄せ来る波に漁りする
海人娘子らが裳の裾濡れぬ

Roma-ji: Kaze no muta yosekuru nami ni isari suru ama otomera ga mo no suso nurenu
English Translation: With the wind
the waves come rolling in;
the fisher maidens
at their work along the shore,
the hems of their skirts are wet
Meaning: With the waves the wind drives in, the hems of the fisher maidens' skirts are wet as they work along the shore.
Commentary: Book Fifteen Poems of the Envoys to Silla 3661

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Nine poems composed while gazing at the moon by the sea"
A descriptive poem: with the waves the wind drives in, the hems of the fisher maidens' skirts are wet as they work. It vividly captures the girls at work on the moonlit shore through the detail of their wet hems. The motif of skirt hems wetted by the tide also appears in 3610 of this book, recited as an old poem: "akamo no suso ni shio mitsuramu ka." A left note records a variant with the fourth and fifth lines as "ama no otome ga mo no suso nurenu."
According to the headnote, this is one of nine poems composed while gazing at the moon by the sea, thought to have been made during the stay at the Tsukushi lodge. The author of this poem is not named.

First line, "kaze no muta": "muta" means together with: with the wind.
Second line, "yosekuru nami ni": in the waves driven in by the wind.
Third line, "isari suru": at their fishing, modifying the girls in the fourth line.
Fourth line, "ama otomera ga": daughters of fishing families, with "ra" marking the plural. The variant has "ama no otome ga."
Fifth line, "mo no suso nurenu": "mo" is a skirt worn from the waist down and "nu" perfective: the hems of their skirts are wet. The line echoes "akamo no suso" in 3610 of this book.
Source: Manyoshu
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