Takashima no ado no minato o kogisugite shiotsu sugaura ima ka koguramu

高島の安曇の港を漕ぎ過ぎて
塩津菅浦今か漕ぐらむ

Roma-ji: Takashima no ado no minato o kogisugite shiotsu sugaura ima ka koguramu
English Translation: Past the harbor of Ado
in Takashima they must have
rowed and gone beyond;
at Shiotsu and Sugaura
are they rowing even now?
Meaning: Having rowed past the harbor of Ado in Takashima, are they now rowing by Shiotsu and Sugaura?
Commentary: Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems 1734

Headnote: "A poem by Shōben"
The speaker imagines a boat heading north on Lake Biwa: having passed the harbor of Ado, it must now be rowing by Shiotsu or Sugaura. By stringing together place names along the shore, the poem lets us follow the boat's progress.
The harbor of Ado lay near the mouth of the Ado River in Takashima, Shiga, while Shiotsu and Sugaura are on the northern shore, so the boat moves from the western to the northern lake. The poem by Takechi no Kurohito, 1718, likewise imagines a boat mooring at the same harbor.
The author, Shōben, is otherwise unknown. The left note to 1719 mentions that one text attributes that poem to Shōben, and some take the name to refer to someone holding the office of controller (ben).

The first line, "in Takashima," names the district on the western shore where the harbor lies.
The second line, "past the harbor of Ado," names the same harbor as the fourth line of 1718. There the boat is imagined mooring; here it is pictured moving on beyond.
The third line, "rowed and gone beyond," means having rowed past.
The fourth line, "at Shiotsu and Sugaura," sets two northern place names side by side without particles to show where the boat is heading.
The final line, "are they rowing even now?" uses the particle ka answered by the present conjecture ramu in a kakari-musubi construction.
Author: Koben
Source: Manyoshu
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