Ie nite mo tayutau inochi nami no ue ni omoishi oreba okuka shirazu mo

家にてもたゆたふ命波の上に
思ひし居れば奥か知らずも

Roma-ji: Ie nite mo tayutau inochi nami no ue ni omoishi oreba okuka shirazu mo
English Translation: Even when at home
this is a life that wavers;
here upon the waves
as I sit lost in my thoughts,
I cannot tell where it ends
Meaning: Even at home, life is a wavering thing; and as I sit here on the waves lost in thought, I cannot tell where it will end.
Commentary: Book Seventeen 3896

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "In the eleventh month, winter, of the second year of Tenpyō, when Lord Ōtomo, Governor-General of Dazaifu, was appointed Major Counselor (while keeping his post as before) and went up to the capital, his attendants took a separate sea route. Grieving over the journey, each set down his heart in these ten poems"
Life is uncertain even at home, and brooding upon the waves the poet cannot see where it will lead—a poem of anxiety on the sea voyage. In 730, when Ōtomo no Tabito, Governor-General of Dazaifu, was appointed Major Counselor and returned to the capital, his attendants traveled separately by sea and set down the sorrows of their voyage in ten poems. The body tossed on a rocking ship is laid over the frailty of life itself, deepening the sense of helpless drifting.
The left note records the poet's name as unknown; he was one of the attendants of Tabito who traveled to the capital by sea.
A variant reading for the fourth line is noted: "ukiteshi oreba," "as I float upon them," expressing the insecurity of being at sea more directly.

First line, "ie nite mo": "even at home," mo implying "even in the house that ought to be safe."
Second line, "tayutau inochi": tayutau means to sway and waver, expressing the instability of human life. The word recalls a rocking ship and resonates with "on the waves" below.
Third line, "nami no ue ni": to be out at sea aboard ship; home and the waves are set in contrast.
Fourth line, "omoishi oreba": shi is emphatic—"as I sit lost in thought." The variant reads "ukiteshi oreba."
Fifth line, "okuka shirazu mo": okuka is the far end of what lies ahead, the future; "I cannot know even that," in a tone of lament. The next poem, 3897, uses the same word in "ōumi no okuka mo shirazu," linking the two poems through okuka.
Source: Manyoshu
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