Shibutani no saki no ariso ni yosuru nami iya shikushiku ni inishie omohoyu

渋谿の崎の荒磯に寄する波
いやしくしくにいにしへ思ほゆ

Roma-ji: Shibutani no saki no ariso ni yosuru nami iya shikushiku ni inishie omohoyu
English Translation: Like the waves that break
upon the rough rocks of the cape
of Shibutani,
ever more, wave upon wave,
the days of old come to mind
Meaning: Like the waves that break again and again on the rocky shore of Cape Shibutani, ever more insistently the days of old come back to mind.
Commentary: Book Seventeen 3986

Headnote: "Envoy to a rhapsody on Mount Futagami (this mountain is in Imizu District)"
Like the waves that break unceasingly on the rocks of Cape Shibutani, ever more does he think of the distant past—a poem recalling the ages of Mount Futagami since the age of the gods. This is an envoy to the chōka "A Rhapsody on Mount Futagami," composed by Yakamochi as the mood took him on the thirtieth day of the third month of 747. The term fu ("rhapsody") borrows the name of a Chinese literary genre, and together with "A Rhapsody on an Outing to the Fuse Lagoon" and "A Rhapsody on Mount Tachiyama" in this book it forms the so-called Three Rhapsodies of Etchū. The chōka praises Mount Futagami, encircled by the Imizu River, as noble because divine and desirable to see because a mountain, whether in the spring flowers' prime or among the autumn leaves; like the waves breaking on the rocks of Cape Shibutani at its foot, everyone who sees it, from ancient times to now, will hold it dear. Taking up the waves of Shibutani sung in the chōka, he lays over their endless breaking his thoughts of Futagami's timeless past.
The poet, Ōtomo no Yakamochi, was the son of the Major Counselor Ōtomo no Tabito. Appointed Governor of Etchū in 746, he spent five years there, later serving as Junior Counselor and Governor of Inaba before rising to Middle Counselor. He is thought to have played a central role in compiling the Man'yōshū.
The left note reads, "The above was composed as the mood arose, on the thirtieth day of the third month. Ōtomo no Sukune Yakamochi."

First line, "Shibutani no": a famous shore at the foot of Mount Futagami, where in 3954 Yakamochi invited his banquet companions.
Second line, "saki no ariso ni": the rocky coast of Cape Shibutani, the same words as in the chōka.
Third line, "yosuru nami": the waves breaking on the rocks; the upper three lines form a preface introducing shikushiku ni.
Fourth line, "iya shikushiku ni": iya means "ever more" and shikushiku ni "again and again," joining the repeated breaking of the waves to growing thoughts. It is the same word as in Ikenushi's 3974, "shikushiku omohoyu."
Fifth line, "inishie omohoyu": "the days of old come to mind," thinking of how Mount Futagami has long been revered as a divine mountain.
Author: Otomo no Yakamochi
Source: Manyoshu
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