Kano kata ni itsu kara saki ni watarikemu namiji wa ato mo nokorazarikeri - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

かの方にいつからさきに渡りけむ
波路は跡も残らざりけり

Roma-ji: Kano kata ni itsu kara saki ni watarikemu namiji wa ato mo nokorazarikeri
English Translation: To that farther shore
since when, ahead of us,
did they make their crossing?
On the pathway of the waves
not a trace is left behind.
Meaning: Since when, I wonder, did they cross ahead to that far shore? On the pathway of the waves, not a single trace remains.
Commentary: Book Ten Names of Things 458

Headnote: "Karasaki"
This poem wonders since when someone crossed ahead to the far shore, for no trace remains on the path of the waves. The place name "Karasaki" is hidden in "itsu kara saki ni" in the second line. Karasaki is on the western shore of Lake Biwa in Ōmi Province, and the poem depicts the wake of a boat crossing the lake vanishing into the waves. The next poem, 459, takes the same title, so the two stand side by side.
The poet, "Aho no Tsunemi," is Aho no Tsunemi. He appears to have been an official of the early Heian period, but the details of his career are not known.

First line "Kano kata ni" means "to that side, to the far shore."
Second line "itsu kara saki ni" means "since when, ahead," and "kara saki" hides the place name "Karasaki."
Third line "watarikemu" uses "kemu," conjecture about the past, wondering whether they have crossed. The poem pauses here.
Fourth line "namiji wa ato mo" means "on the path of the waves the boat took, even a trace."
Fifth line "nokorazarikeri" closes with a sigh of realization: none remains.
Author: Aho no Tsunemi
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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