Sasanami no shiga no karasaki sakiku aredo ōmiyabito no fune machikanetsu

楽浪の志賀の辛崎幸くあれど
大宮人の舟待ちかねつ

Roma-ji: Sasanami no shiga no karasaki sakiku aredo ōmiyabito no fune machikanetsu
English Translation: At Sasanami,
Karasaki in Shiga
remains as it was,
but the courtiers' boats, for which
it waits, will never come.
Meaning: At Sasanami, Cape Karasaki in Shiga remains just as it was, yet however long it waits, the courtiers' boats never come.
Commentary: Book One Miscellaneous Poems 30

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "A poem composed by Kakinomoto no Asomi Hitomaro when he passed the ruined capital of Ōmi — envoy"
Passing the ruins of the Ōtsu Palace in Ōmi, destroyed in the Jinshin War, Hitomaro laments in this envoy that while Karasaki remains unchanged, the boats of the courtiers who once made merry here will never come however long one waits. Through the contrast between enduring nature and a vanished human world, it carries a deep wish to console the spirits of the fallen capital. It can also be read with Karasaki personified, pining for the courtiers' boats, and it is celebrated as the finest of Hitomaro's poems on the ruined capital.
Kakinomoto no Hitomaro was a court poet active in the reigns of Empress Jitō and Emperor Monmu, and he is the foremost poet of the Man'yōshū. Though his rank appears to have been low, he left many grand and dignified poems, above all long poems, and later ages revered him as a "saint of poetry."

The first line, Sasanami no, is an old name for the southwestern shore of Lake Biwa and is also used as a pillow word for Shiga. It calls up the land where the lost capital of Ōmi once stood.
The second line names Karasaki in Shiga, a cape jutting into Lake Biwa in present-day Ōtsu. It was a famous spot where courtiers went boating.
In the third line, sakiku means "safe and unchanged": Karasaki remains as it always was. The concessive do sets the permanence of nature against the changes of the human world. Sakiku also echoes the saki of the place name.
The fourth line, "the courtiers," refers to the officials of the former palace in Ōmi, calling up people who are no longer there.
In the last line, kanu means "unable to go on," and tsu is perfective: "it can wait no longer for the boats." Waiting for boats that will never come again carries a profound sense of loss. Together with the next poem's closing "shall I ever meet them again?" it deepens the grief of never again meeting those who are gone.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Source: Manyoshu
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