Ofu no umi ni funanori suran wagimoko ga akamo no suso ni shio mitsuran ka - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

おふの海に舟乗りすらん我妹子が
赤裳の裾に潮満つらんか

Roma-ji: Ofu no umi ni funanori suran wagimoko ga akamo no suso ni shio mitsuran ka
English Translation: On the sea of Ofu
she must be riding in a boat,
my beloved girl—
on the hem of her red skirt
is the tide now rising high?
Meaning: My beloved, who must be out in a boat on the sea of Ofu—is the tide now rising about the hem of her red skirt?
Commentary: Book Eight Miscellaneous Poems I 493

Headnote: "Staying behind when there was an imperial progress to Ise"
The poet wonders whether the tide is rising about the red hem of his beloved, who must now be out in a boat on the sea of Ofu. The headnote shows it was composed when he stayed behind in the capital rather than accompanying an imperial progress to Ise. Thinking of the women enjoying the seaside with the progress, he imagines the bright scene of red skirt hems wet by the tide. The next poems, 494 and 495, concern the Ise Priestess's journey to Ise, so poems thinking of those bound for Ise continue.
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 One of the Man'yōshū includes a poem of nearly the same sense as one Hitomaro composed while staying in the capital during a progress to Ise.

First line, "Ofu no umi ni," means "on the sea of Ofu" in Ise, six syllables, one too many.
Second line, "funanori suran," means "must be riding a boat," with "ran" an auxiliary of present conjecture.
Third line, "wagimoko ga," means "of my beloved," fondly calling a woman who accompanies the progress.
Fourth line, "akamo no suso ni," means "on the hem of her red skirt."
Final line, "shio mitsuran ka," means "is the tide rising," with "ka" a questioning particle. Together with "ran" in the second line, it imagines the scene on the far shore.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Source: Shui Wakashu
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