classic waka stream

大君の遠の朝廷とあり通ふ
島門を見れば神代し思ほゆ
Roma-ji

Ōkimi no tō no mikado to arigayou shimato o mireba kamuyo shi omooyu

English Translation
To our sovereign's
distant court they come and go,
ever passing through—
as I see the island straits,
the age of gods comes to mind.
Meaning
Looking at the straits among the islands, through which people have long passed to and from our sovereign's distant court, I find myself thinking of the age of the gods.
Commentary
Book Three Miscellaneous Poems 304

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Two poems composed at sea by Kakinomoto no Hitomaro when he went down to the province of Tsukushi"
This pairs with the preceding poem, from the voyage down to Tsukushi. Calling Dazaifu "our sovereign's distant court," the poet sees the island straits through which people have long traveled there, and his thoughts turn to the age when the gods gave birth to the land. Where the previous poem sang the sorrow of losing sight of home, this one voices awe at the land's timeless history.
The poet, Kakinomoto no Hitomaro, was a court poet active from the reign of Jitō to that of Monmu. Master of both long and short poems, he was later revered as the "Saint of Poetry." His rank was low, and much of his life remains obscure.

First line "To our sovereign's" refers to the Emperor.
Second line "distant court": tō no mikado is a seat of government far from the capital, here Dazaifu in Tsukushi.
Third line "ever passing through": ari expresses continuation—people constantly coming and going.
Fourth line "as I see the island straits": shimato is the channel between islands.
Fifth line "the age of gods comes to mind": shi is emphatic and omooyu means to come to mind unbidden. The age of the land's divine creation rises of itself, ending in a sense of the timeless.
Author
Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Source
Manyoshu
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