Honohano to akashi no ura no asagiri ni shimagakure yuku fune o shi zo omou - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

ほのはのとあかしの浦の朝霧に
島隠れ行く舟をしぞ思ふ

Roma-ji: Honohano to akashi no ura no asagiri ni shimagakure yuku fune o shi zo omou
English Translation: Dimly, dimly dawns
the bay of Akashi, where
through the morning mist
a boat slips behind the isles—
it is that boat I think of.
Meaning: As dawn breaks faintly over the bay of Akashi, a boat glides into the morning mist and disappears behind an island, and my heart goes out to it.
Commentary: Book Nine Travel Poems 409

Headnote: "Topic unknown"; left note: "Someone says this poem is by Kakinomoto no Hitomaro."
At dawn on the bay of Akashi, the poet watches a boat vanish behind an island in the morning mist and follows it in thought. The dim half-light of daybreak and the boat gradually fading from view quietly carry the lingering feeling of departure and parting.
Long revered as a masterpiece, it was taken into Fujiwara no Kintō's Wakan Rōeishū. Together with the tradition that Hitomaro wrote it, it has been regarded as the poem that best represents Hitomaro, the sage of poetry.
The author is recorded as "anonymous"; the poet is unknown. The left note says "someone says this is a poem by Kakinomoto no Hitomaro," so one tradition attributes it to Hitomaro, but there is no proof.
The main text gives the first line as "honohano to," which does not match "honohono to" in the kana reading line; here the main text is followed.

The first line, "honohano to," reads "honobono to" according to the kana line and describes night faintly giving way to dawn. It leads into "akashi" in the next line and stamps the scene with early light.
The second line plays on "akashi," "bright" as the night lightens, and the place name Akashi. Akashi, a poetic place in Harima, was a key stop on the sea route from the capital to the western provinces.
The third line sets down the morning mist that blurs the boat, preparing for its disappearance.
The fourth line, "slipping behind the isles," captures the boat's motion as it passes out of sight behind an island.
In the last line, "shi" is an emphatic particle and "zo" a binding particle, closed by the attributive "omou." The next poem, 410, ends the same way with "o shi zo omou," so a boat seen off and the poet's own journey stand side by side with a shared final line.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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