From the reed-grown shore
as the tide comes rising in
and ever increases,
so toward you my heart
thinks and ever more swells on.

Meaning

Like the tide that comes in from the reed-grown shore and rises ever higher, so my feelings for you grow stronger and stronger.

Commentary

Episode Thirty-Three: "The rising tide"

A certain man was visiting a woman in the Ubara district of the province of Settsu.
The woman seemed to think that once the man returned to the capital, he would not come again.
Seeing her thus, the man composed this poem.
Whether he meant to comfort her, or to deceive her, is uncertain.

The Ubara district of Settsu corresponds to the area around present-day Ashiya in Hyogo Prefecture. As this region was land belonging to Prince Aho, the father of Ariwara no Narihira, the man is thought to have been Narihira.

Source

Ise Monogatari

Other

If one without sin is made the object of curse, they say that forget- grass will upon one’s own self grow there upon one’s own self.
As in ancient days the rustic weaver’s spool is wound back again, would that there were some means now to make the past the present.
In the hidden cove how could the heart that I hold be known in such wise, as with the punting pole one sounds and knows the depth below?
If I would speak it, I cannot; if I speak not, my breast is troubled, and within a single heart I grieve alone in these days.

From the reed-grown shore as the tide comes rising in and ever increases, so toward you my heart thinks and ever more swells on.

From the reed-grown shore
as the tide comes rising in
and ever increases,
so toward you my heart
thinks and ever more swells on.