Shimakage ni waga fune hatete tsugeyaramu tsukai o nami ya koitsutsu yukamu

島蔭に我が船泊てて告げ遣らむ
使を無みや恋ひつつ行かむ

Roma-ji: Shimakage ni waga fune hatete tsugeyaramu tsukai o nami ya koitsutsu yukamu
English Translation: In an island's lee
though I moor my ship at rest,
there is no one I
might send home bearing word;
must I go on, longing still?
Meaning: Though I moor my ship in the shelter of an island, there is no messenger to send home with word; must I go on, longing all the while?
Commentary: Book Twenty Frontier Guard Poems 4412

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "A poem with tanka setting forth the feelings of the frontier guards at parting."
Though I moor in an island's lee, there is no messenger to send home; must I go on longing? The last envoy, singing of the loneliness of a voyage with no means of sending word. The left note dates it to the twenty-third day of the second month, by Ōtomo no Yakamochi. From the long poem through the four envoys, the guard's wish to send word home runs throughout.
The author, Ōtomo no Yakamochi, son of Ōtomo no Tabito, was at this time Junior Assistant Minister of Military Affairs.

The first line, "shimakage ni," "in the shelter of an island," shows a mooring along the voyage. A Shimōsa guard's poem also sings of a ship rowing behind an island.
The second line, "waga fune hatete," means "mooring my ship."
The third line, "tsugeyaramu," "to send word home," modifies "messenger."
The fourth line, "tsukai o nami ya," uses mi of cause, "because there is no messenger," with the interrogative ya, resolved by the attributive mu in the last line.
The closing line, "koitsutsu yukamu," "must I go on longing?" closes the set in loneliness.
Author: Otomo no Yakamochi
Source: Manyoshu
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