Tabi nite mo mo naku hayako to wagimoko ga musubishi himo wa narenikeru kamo

旅にても喪なく早来と我妹子が
結びし紐はなれにけるかも

Roma-ji: Tabi nite mo mo naku hayako to wagimoko ga musubishi himo wa narenikeru kamo
English Translation: Even on your journey
may no harm befall, come soon,
so my dear wife said,
and the cords she tied for me
have worn so thin and soft
Meaning: "Even on your journey may no harm befall you; come home soon," my dear wife said as she tied these cords, and now they have grown worn and limp.
Commentary: Book Fifteen Poems of the Envoys to Silla 3717

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Eighteen poems composed while anchored at Takashiki Bay, each expressing his feelings"
He sings that the cords his wife tied, praying that he be safe on his journey and return soon, have become worn and limp. In the wear of the cords he feels the length of the journey and recalls his wife's prayer folded into them. The eighteen poems at Takashiki Bay close with this one, and the promise of the robe's cords exchanged in the parting poems is shown here as the weight of the long journey's time.
According to the headnote, this is one of eighteen poems composed while anchored at Takashiki Bay, each expressing his feelings. Takashiki Bay lies within Asō Bay in Tsushima, thought to be present-day Takeshiki in Mitsushima, Tsushima City, Nagasaki Prefecture. The last nine poems of the sequence have no left notes, and the author of this poem is not named.

First line, "tabi nite mo": even on the journey.
Second line, "mo naku hayako to": "mo" is misfortune or calamity and "ko" the imperative of "ku" (come), quoting his wife's words: without harm, come back soon.
Third line, "wagimoko ga": my dear wife.
Fourth line, "musubishi himo wa": "shi" is the attributive of the past "ki": the cords my wife tied at our parting.
Fifth line, "narenikeru kamo": "naru" means to become worn and limp, and "nikeru kamo" expresses completion and exclamation: they have quite worn out, the poem ends.
Source: Manyoshu
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