Sayo fukete horie kogunaru matsurabune kaji no oto takashi mio hayami kamo

さ夜更けて堀江漕ぐなる松浦舟
楫の音高し水脈早みかも

Roma-ji: Sayo fukete horie kogunaru matsurabune kaji no oto takashi mio hayami kamo
English Translation: Now the night is late,
along the canal I hear
a Matsura boat rowing—
loud the sound of its oars,
is it that the current's swift?
Meaning: Deep in the night I hear a Matsura boat rowing along the canal—its oars sound so loud; is it because the current runs swift?
Commentary: Book Seven Miscellaneous Poems 1143

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Composed in Settsu"
Hearing the oars of a Matsura boat ring loud as it rows along the Naniwa canal late at night, the poet guesses that the current must be swift. The sound of oars in the dark conveys the scene of a harbor at night and a traveler's melancholy.
It is one of the poems composed in Settsu. The Horie was a canal cut at Naniwa, and a Matsura boat was one built at Matsura in Hizen, or a boat of that type. The poet is unknown.

The first line, "Now the night is late," sets the hour.
In the second line, "naru" is an auxiliary of inference from sound: "it seems a boat is rowing along the canal."
The third line refers to a boat built at Matsura in Hizen Province, or a boat of that style.
The fourth line, "loud the sound of its oars," pauses the poem and has an extra syllable.
The final line adds the questioning "kamo" to a "-mi" form, guessing at the cause: because the current is swift?
Source: Manyoshu
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