Shioke tatsu ariso ni wa aredo yuku mizu no suginishi imo ga katami to zo koshi

潮気立つ荒磯にはあれど行く水の
過ぎにし妹が形見とぞ来し

Roma-ji: Shioke tatsu ariso ni wa aredo yuku mizu no suginishi imo ga katami to zo koshi
English Translation: Though it is a shore
wild and rough with the salt spray,
like the flowing water
she has passed, my love, and so
as her keepsake I have come.
Meaning: Though it is a rough shore where the salt spray rises, I have come here as a keepsake of my wife, who has passed away like flowing water.
Commentary: Book Nine Elegies 1797

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Four poems composed in the province of Kii"
Though it is a rough shore where the salt spray rises, the speaker has come here as a keepsake of his late wife. It is not the beauty of the scene but his memories of her that bring him.
This is the second of the four poems composed in Kii in memory of a dead wife.
The author, Kakinomoto no Hitomaro, was a court poet active in the reigns of Jitō and Monmu. This poem is taken from the Hitomaro Collection, which is thought to contain both Hitomaro's own poems and poems by others that he gathered.

The first line, "though it is a shore," leads into the salty scene.
The second line, "wild and rough with the salt spray," concedes the harshness of the shore.
The third line, "like the flowing water," is a pillow word for sugu, "to pass."
The fourth line, "she has passed, my love, and so," shares suginishi with the second line of the preceding poem; where that poem used "like the autumn leaves," this one uses "like the flowing water."
The final line, "as her keepsake I have come," answers zo with shi, the attributive of the past ki, in a kakari-musubi.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Source: Manyoshu
Prev Poem: Momichiba no suginishi kora to tazusawari asobishi iso o mireba kanashi mo
Next Poem: Inishie ni imo to waga mishi nubatama no kuroushigata o mireba sabushi mo