Sora no umi ni kumo no nami tachi tsuki no fune sato no hayashi ni kogikakuru miyu - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

空の海に雲の波立ち月の舟
里の林に漕ぎ隠る見ゆ

Roma-ji: Sora no umi ni kumo no nami tachi tsuki no fune sato no hayashi ni kogikakuru miyu
English Translation: On the sea of sky
the waves of cloud are rising,
and the moon's boat
into the forest of stars
is seen rowing out of sight.
Meaning: On the sea of the sky, waves of cloud rise, and the moon's boat can be seen rowing away to hide in the forest of stars.
Commentary: Book Eight Miscellaneous Poems I 488

Headnote: "On the heavens"
Seeing the sky as a sea, clouds as waves, the moon as a boat and the stars as a forest, the poet says the moon's boat can be seen rowing away into the forest of stars. The headnote shows it was composed on the topic of the heavens. It is famous for its grand figure overlaying the vast night sky with a boat crossing the sea. It resonates with Michizane's "stars of heaven" in 479 of this book by singing of the stars in the sky, and from here Hitomaro's poems on objects continue through 491 in this book.
The author, written as Hitomaro, is Kakinomoto no Hitomaro. A court poet of the Asuka period, he is revered as the sage of poetry and the foremost poet of the Man'yōshū, and he is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets. The Shūishū includes many Man'yōshū poems under his name.
Book Seven of the Man'yōshū includes, as a poem from the Hitomaro Collection, a poem on the sea of heaven where the moon's boat rows into the forest of stars.
The fourth line of the main text reads "sato no hayashi ni," which does not match "hoshi no hayashi ni" in the line giving the reading. The main text is followed here, but the character for "village" is thought to be a miscopying of the similar character for "star," and the translation and commentary follow the meaning of "forest of stars."

First line, "sora no umi ni," means "on the sea of the sky," six syllables, one too many, seeing the sky as a sea.
Second line, "kumo no nami tachi," means "the waves of cloud rising," seeing clouds as waves.
Third line, "tsuki no fune," means "the boat of the moon," seeing the moon as a boat.
Fourth line, "sato no hayashi ni," means "into the forest of stars," seeing the clustered stars as a forest.
Final line, "kogikakuru miyu," means "is seen rowing out of sight." It portrays the moon setting among the stars as a boat rowing into the shade of a forest.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Source: Shui Wakashu
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