Sakimori no Horie kogizuru izutebune kaji toru ma naku koi wa shigekemu

防人の堀江漕ぎ出る伊豆手船
楫取る間なく恋は繁けむ

Roma-ji: Sakimori no Horie kogizuru izutebune kaji toru ma naku koi wa shigekemu
English Translation: The frontier guards row
out from Horie in their
ships of Izu make;
as the oars ply without rest
so their longing must grow thick
Meaning: As the guards row their Izu-built ships out of the Horie canal, never resting their oars, so their longing must grow without pause.
Commentary: Book Twenty Frontier Guard Poems 4336

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Poems of the frontier guards sent in rotation to the provinces of Tsukushi in the second month of Tenpyō Shōhō 7, year of the wood sheep."
As the oars of the Izu-built ships rowing out of Horie never rest, so the guards' longing must grow without pause. The left note says it closes the three poems Ōtomo no Yakamochi composed on the ninth day of the second month. After praying for a safe voyage in the preceding poem, he turns to the hearts of the guards aboard.
The author, Ōtomo no Yakamochi, son of Ōtomo no Tabito, was at this time Junior Assistant Minister of Military Affairs.

The first line, "sakimori no," names those who row the ships.
The second line, "Horie kogizuru," names Horie, a canal cut at Naniwa, the guards' point of departure.
The third line, "izutebune," is thought to be a ship of the type built in Izu. The first three lines form a preface leading to "kaji toru ma naku" in the fourth.
The fourth line, "kaji toru ma naku," "with no pause in plying the oars," turns from the prefatory scene to the ceaselessness of longing.
The closing line, "koi wa shigekemu," uses shigeshi, "thick, unceasing," and the conjectural mu: their longing must grow without end.
Author: Otomo no Yakamochi
Source: Manyoshu
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