Hamabe yori waga uchi yukaba umibe yori mukae mo konu ka ama no tsuribune

浜辺より我が打ち行かば海辺より
迎へも来ぬか海人の釣舟

Roma-ji: Hamabe yori waga uchi yukaba umibe yori mukae mo konu ka ama no tsuribune
English Translation: Along the beach
if I ride on my way,
from the open sea
would they not come to meet me—
fishermen in their boats?
Meaning: As I ride along the beach, will the fishermen's boats not come in from the sea to meet me?
Commentary: Book Eighteen 4044

Headnote: "On the twenty-fifth, two poems recited on horseback on the way to the lagoon of Fuse."
On the way to the lagoon of Fuse, riding along the beach, the poet wishes that the fishermen's boats would come in from the sea to greet him. It is an impromptu poem murmured on horseback, and the lift of spirits on the way to the outing comes through plainly.
Ōtomo no Yakamochi was the son of Ōtomo no Tabito, and from 746 he served as governor of Etchū. He is believed to have played a central role in compiling the Man'yōshū, and this book has the character of a poetic diary of his years in Etchū. The headnote and left note do not name the author, but from the arrangement the poem is attributed to Yakamochi.
The left note to 4051 records, "The fifteen preceding poems were composed on the twenty-fifth."

First line, "hamabe yori": "yori" marks the route, "by way of the beach," showing the poet's own side, traveling by land.
Second line, "waga uchi yukaba": "uchi" is a prefix suggesting urging a horse on with a whip. The irrealis plus "ba" makes a hypothetical condition.
Third line, "umibe yori": it repeats the form of the first line, "hamabe yori," setting land and sea side by side.
Fourth line, "mukae mo konu ka": "nu ka," a negative question, expresses the wish "won't they come?" The poem pauses after the fourth line.
Last line, "ama no tsuribune": ending on a noun, it names at last the boats he hopes will greet him. The next poem, 4045, also sings of a boat, and both share the view from land toward a boat at sea.
Author: Otomo no Yakamochi
Source: Manyoshu
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