Ikishini no futatsu no umi o itowashimi shiohi no yama o shinoitsuru kamo

生き死にの二つの海を厭はしみ
潮干の山を偲ひつるかも

Roma-ji: Ikishini no futatsu no umi o itowashimi shiohi no yama o shinoitsuru kamo
English Translation: Of life and of death,
these twin seas I have come
to loathe and despise,
and the mountain the tide has left
I have longed for in my heart.
Meaning: Weary of the twin seas of life and death, I have longed in my heart for the mountain the tide has left behind.
Commentary: Book Sixteen Poems with Tales of Origin and Miscellaneous Poems 3849

Headnote: "Two poems weary of the world's impermanence."
Likening the realm of rebirth to two seas of life and death, the poet turns from them and longs for the mountain left dry by the tide, that is, enlightenment. It is a rare philosophical poem in the Man'yōshū that brings Buddhist teaching into waka.
According to the left note, these two poems were found written on the face of a Japanese koto kept in the Buddha hall of Kawaradera, a temple at Asuka in Yamato, also written 川原寺.
The poet is not recorded.

First line, "ikishini no," means "of life and death," the Buddhist round of birth and death in the world of delusion.
Second line, "futatsu no umi o," means "the two seas," likening that world to boundless seas.
Third line, "itowashimi," means "since I loathe them." The adjective stem with mi expresses cause.
Fourth line, "shiohi no yama o," means "the mountain at low tide," a figure for enlightenment beyond the sea of birth and death; some take it as Mount Sumeru.
Final line, "shinoitsuru kamo," means "I have longed for it." The perfective tsu and exclamatory kamo quietly close on his yearning for awakening.
Source: Manyoshu
Prev Poem: Araki ta no shishida no ine o kura ni agete ana hinebineshi aga kouraku wa
Next Poem: Yo no naka no shigeki kariho ni sumi sumite itaramu kuni no tazuki shirazu mo