Horie yori miobiki shitsutsu mifune sasu shizuo no tomo wa kawa no se mōse

堀江より水脈引きしつつ御船さす
しづ男の伴は川の瀬申せ

Roma-ji: Horie yori miobiki shitsutsu mifune sasu shizuo no tomo wa kawa no se mōse
English Translation: From the Horie,
guiding along the channel,
punting the royal boat,
you, the band of humble men,
call out where the shallows lie!
Meaning: You boatmen who punt the royal boat up from the Horie, guiding it along the channel—report the shallows of the river!
Commentary: Book Eighteen 4061

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Seven poems from the time when the Retired Sovereign resided at the Naniwa Palace [this is Empress Kiyotarashihime]."
The poem orders the boatmen who punt the royal boat up the channel from the Horie to report the shallows of the river. It urges care upon those handling the boat so that the Retired Empress may travel safely upstream, conveying the tension of those serving on the royal outing.
The author is not recorded. The left note reads, "The poems above were composed on the day the royal boat was hauled by towropes up the canal for a banquet. The one who recited them is Tanabe no Fubito Sakimaro," showing that Sakimaro passed the poem on.
According to the left note, this poem and the next come from the day the royal boat was hauled up the Horie by ropes for a banquet. Like 4056 at the beginning, it opens with "Horie," so the group of seven poems begins and ends with poems of the Horie.

First line, "Horie yori": "yori" marks the starting point. Like "Horie ni wa" in 4056, it begins with the canal, making the group answer itself.
Second line, "miobiki shitsutsu": "miobiki" means guiding a boat along the channel. "Tsutsu" marks continuation.
Third line, "mifune sasu": "sasu" means to punt a boat forward with a pole. It is the boat of the Retired Empress.
Fourth line, "shizuo no tomo wa": "shizuo" means men of low rank, here the boatmen; "tomo" means a company or band.
Last line, "kawa no se mōse": "se" is a shallow place in a river, and "mōse" is the imperative of a humble verb for "to say," "report the shallows to the Sovereign."
Source: Manyoshu
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