Okitsutori kamo tō fune wa Yara no saki tamite kogi ku to kikoe konu kamo

沖つ鳥鴨とふ船は也良の崎
廻みて漕ぎ来と聞こえ来ぬかも

Roma-ji: Okitsutori kamo tō fune wa Yara no saki tamite kogi ku to kikoe konu kamo
English Translation: The Kamo boat,
named for the wild duck offshore—
round Cape Yara,
rowing home, it's coming back:
oh, that such word would come!
Meaning: If only word would come that the boat called Kamo, the wild duck of the open sea, is rounding Cape Yara and rowing home!
Commentary: Book Sixteen Poems with Tales of Origin and Miscellaneous Poems 3867

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Ten poems on the fisherman of Shika in Chikuzen."
The wife wishes she might hear that the Kamo boat is rounding Cape Yara and rowing home. Having asked the watchman in the preceding poem to send word, she now voices her longing to hear it.
According to the left note, in the Jinki era the Dazaifu appointed Munakatabe no Tsumaro of Munakata District in Chikuzen as helmsman of a ship carrying provisions to Tsushima. Too old to bear the sea, Tsumaro asked Arao, a fisherman of Shika village, to take his place, and Arao, bound by a friendship deeper than brotherhood, gladly agreed. He set sail for Tsushima from Cape Mineraku at Matsura in Hizen, but the sky suddenly darkened, a storm of wind and rain arose, and he sank beneath the sea. Some say his wife and children, unable to bear their longing, made these poems; others that Yamanoue no Okura, Governor of Chikuzen, made them in sympathy with their grief.
The poet, according to one account in the left note, is Yamanoue no Okura, who went to Tang China with an embassy and served as Governor of Chikuzen. He is known for poems on life's hardships and family affection. The poems speak in the voice of Arao's wife and children.

First line, "okitsutori," is a pillow word for kamo, the same opening as the preceding poem, 3866.
Second line, "kamo tō fune wa," means "the boat called Kamo," changing only the particle from the preceding poem's "fune no."
Third line, "Yara no saki," names Cape Yara, thought to be the northern tip of Nokonoshima, matching "Yara no sakimori" in the preceding poem.
Fourth line, "tamite kogi ku to," means "that it is rounding and rowing in."
Final line, "kikoe konu kamo," means "won't word come?" Nu kamo expresses a wish, answering "hayaku tsugekoso" in the preceding poem and binding the pair with the heart of one awaiting news.
Author: Yamanoue no Okura (attributed)
Source: Manyoshu
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