Kashima yori Kumaki o sashite kogu fune no kaji toru ma naku miyako shi omohoyu

香島より熊来をさして漕ぐ船の
楫取る間なく都し思ほゆ

Roma-ji: Kashima yori Kumaki o sashite kogu fune no kaji toru ma naku miyako shi omohoyu
English Translation: From Kashima port
heading out toward Kumaki,
like a rowing boat
that never rests its oars,
ceaselessly I think of the capital
Meaning: Like a boat rowing from Kashima toward Kumaki, never resting its oars, so ceaselessly do I think of the capital.
Commentary: Book Seventeen 4027

Headnote: "Two poems composed when setting out by boat from the port of Kashima in Noto District and heading for the village of Kumaki"
As the oars of a boat rowing from Kashima toward Kumaki never rest, so he thinks of the capital without pause—a poem of longing for the capital on a sea journey. This is one of the poems Yakamochi composed in the spring of 748 on what he saw at each time and place while touring the districts of Etchū to administer suiko, the system of lending seed rice in spring to be repaid with interest after the autumn harvest, for which provincial governors traveled through their territory. Over the oars moving tirelessly before him he lays his thoughts of the capital, never absent for a moment. The other of the two poems, 4026, is a sedōka.
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.
At the time the province of Etchū also governed the four districts of Noto, and Yakamochi's tour extended to the Noto Peninsula.

First line, "Kashima yori": Kashima was a port in Noto, thought to be near present-day Nanao, Ishikawa.
Second line, "Kumaki o sashite": Kumaki is a place in Noto, thought to be near Nakajima in present-day Nanao.
Third line, "kogu fune no": "of a boat rowing on"; the upper three lines form a preface introducing "never resting the oars."
Fourth line, "kaji toru ma naku": "with no pause in plying the oars," the same expression as in 3961, welcoming Ikenushi's return: "you of whom I thought, like a boat… never resting its oars."
Fifth line, "miyako shi omohoyu": shi is emphatic—"it is the capital that comes to mind." Like 4019 of this book, it sings of longing for the capital from a distant post.
Author: Otomo no Yakamochi
Source: Manyoshu
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