Sakuraasa no Ofu no uranami tachikaeri miredomo akazu yamanashi no hana - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

桜麻の麻生の浦波立ち返り
見れども飽かず山梨の花

Roma-ji: Sakuraasa no Ofu no uranami tachikaeri miredomo akazu yamanashi no hana
English Translation: Like the waves that break
on the bay of Ofu, where hemp grows,
returning again,
I look and never tire of
the blossoms of the mountain pear.
Meaning: Like the waves that return again and again to the bay of Ofu, I go back to look and never tire of the blossoms of the mountain pear.
Commentary: Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Poems I 1473

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
This is the first poem of the sequence on the things of late spring. The poet sings of mountain pear blossoms he never tires of, returning to look at them again and again like the waves that break and return on the bay of Ofu. The headnote reads "topic unknown," and records nothing of the circumstances of composition.
The author, "Toshiyori Ason," is Minamoto no Toshiyori. The son of Major Counselor Minamoto no Tsunenobu, he compiled the Kin'yō Wakashū by order of Retired Emperor Shirakawa.
The bay of Ofu is a famous place in poetry, sung with the pillow word "sakuraasa no."

The first line, "sakuraasa no," is a pillow word for "Ofu." Containing the word "sakura," and placed after the sequence on the cherry, it echoes the lingering spring.
The second line, "Ofu no uranami," refers to the waves breaking on the bay of Ofu. The first and second lines form a preface leading to "tachikaeri" in the third line.
The third line, "tachikaeri," overlays the waves breaking and returning with going back again and again to look. It is the pivot turning from the preface to the main statement.
The fourth line, "miredomo akazu," adds the concessive "domo" to the perfective form, meaning "though I look, I never tire."
The last line, "yamanashi no hana," ends on a noun. After the sequence on the cherry, it sets the mountain pear with its white blossoms, moving on to the things of late spring.
Author: Minamoto no Toshiyori
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
Prev Poem: Mi wa tometsu kokoro wa okuru yamazakura kaze no tayori ni omoi okose yo
Next Poem: Shiranami no koyuran Sue no Matsuyama wa hana to ya miyuru haru no yo no tsuki