Shiranami no yosekuru tamamo yo no aida mo tsugite mi ni komu kiyoki hamabi o

白波の寄せ来る玉藻世の間も
継ぎて見に来む清き浜びを

Roma-ji: Shiranami no yosekuru tamamo yo no aida mo tsugite mi ni komu kiyoki hamabi o
English Translation: The jewel-like weed
that the white waves wash ashore—
all the while this world lasts
I shall come and come again
to see this pure white shore
Meaning: As long as this world lasts, I shall keep coming back to see this pure shore, where the white waves wash in the jewel-like seaweed.
Commentary: Book Seventeen 3994

Headnote: "The one quatrain of a poem respectfully composed in reply to the rhapsody on an outing to the Fuse lagoon, with one quatrain"
As long as the world lasts he will keep coming to see this pure shore where white waves bring in the seaweed—a poem praising the Fuse lagoon. It is the tanka attached to the chōka Ikenushi composed on the twenty-sixth day of the fourth month of 747 in belated reply to Yakamochi's "Rhapsody on an Outing to the Fuse Lagoon"; the headnote calls it "one quatrain," likening it to a Chinese jueju. The chōka tells how, in the season when wisteria has fallen and the hototogisu sings amid the deutzia's prime, like-minded friends rode out together, made garlands of the seaweed from the rocks of Shibutani, rowed fishermen's boats out on the Fuse lagoon, and resolved to refresh their hearts there, in autumn's leaves and spring's blossoms, as their lord wished.
The poet, Ōtomo no Ikenushi, served as Secretary of Etchū under Governor Yakamochi. A member of the same clan and well versed in Chinese verse and prose, he exchanged many poems and letters with Yakamochi during the Etchū years.
The left note reads, "The above was composed by Secretary Ōtomo no Sukune Ikenushi (in belated reply, twenty-sixth day of the fourth month)."

First line, "shiranami no": the white waves breaking on the shore, opening the seaside scene.
Second line, "yosekuru tamamo": fine seaweed brought in by the waves; the upper two lines form a preface introducing yo ("world") in the third line through yo, the joints of the seaweed.
Third line, "yo no aida mo": "as long as this world lasts," a hypermetric line of six morae.
Fourth line, "tsugite mi ni komu": "I shall keep coming to see," answering the last line of Yakamochi's 3992, "mitsutsu shinowamu."
Fifth line, "kiyoki hamabi o": "this pure shore," giving by inversion the object he comes to see.
Author: Ōtomo no Ikenushi
Source: Manyoshu
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