Shihatsuyama uchikoe mireba Kasanui no shima kogikakuru tananashi obune

四極山うち越え見れば笠縫の
島漕ぎ隠る棚なし小舟

Roma-ji: Shihatsuyama uchikoe mireba Kasanui no shima kogikakuru tananashi obune
English Translation: Crossing Shihatsu,
looking out as I come over,
Kasanui's isle—
rowing to hide behind it,
a small boat without side-boards.
Meaning: Crossing over Mount Shihatsu and looking out, I see a little boat without side-boards rowing away to hide behind the island of Kasanui.
Commentary: Book Three Miscellaneous Poems 272

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Eight travel poems by Takechi no Muraji Kurohito"
This is the third of Kurohito's eight travel poems. Looking out over the sea after crossing a mountain, the poet captures the instant a small boat rows into hiding behind an island. The traveler's loneliness is entrusted to his gaze as he watches the boat disappear. Mount Shihatsu and the island of Kasanui have been placed either near Sumiyoshi in Settsu or in Mikawa. The Kokinshū also contains a nearly identical poem under the title "Shihatsu mountain song."
Kurohito's eight travel poems gather pieces composed on journeys through Settsu, Owari, Ōmi, Mikawa, Yamashiro, and other provinces.
The poet, Takechi no Kurohito, was active from the reign of Jitō to that of Monmu. Excelling in travel poems, he opened a distinctive vein of landscape poetry marked by a solitary gaze upon receding things. Little is known of his life.

First line "Crossing Shihatsu": Mount Shihatsu is thought to be either hills in present-day Sumiyoshi Ward, Osaka, or a mountain in Mikawa.
Second line "looking out as I come over": uchi is a prefix adding force to the verb—"when I cross and look out."
Third line "Kasanui's isle": Kasanui is a place name modifying the island.
Fourth line "rowing to hide behind it" means disappearing into the island's shadow.
Fifth line "a small boat without side-boards" ends on a noun, leaving the image of the fading boat as an afterglow.
Author: Takechi no Kurohito
Source: Manyoshu
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