Harukusa no shigeki aga koi ōumi no he ni yuku nami no chie ni tsumorinu

春草の繁き我が恋大海の
辺に行く波の千重に積もりぬ

Roma-ji: Harukusa no shigeki aga koi ōumi no he ni yuku nami no chie ni tsumorinu
English Translation: Like the grass of spring,
thick and dense, so is my love;
of the mighty sea
like the waves that reach the shore,
a thousand-fold it has piled.
Meaning: My love, dense as the grasses of spring, has piled up a thousandfold, like the waves that roll toward the shores of the great sea.
Commentary: Book Ten Spring Love Poems 1920

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Love Expressed Through Grasses"
This poem sings of a love dense as spring grass and piled up a thousandfold like waves rolling to the shores of the great sea. Layering two similes, spring grass and ocean waves, it expresses the vastness of love through the breadth of land and sea. Though a poem on grass, it has a grand composition that draws in the waves of the sea as well.

The first line, "like spring grass," is a simile leading into "dense."
The second line, "my dense love," means a love unceasing as thick growth, and the poem breaks here.
The third line, "of the great sea," introduces the second simile.
The fourth line, "the waves going to the shore," overlays the ceaseless waves with an unbroken love.
In the last line, "chie ni tsumorinu," "chie" means many layers and "nu" marks completion, closing with a love piled up layer upon layer.
Source: Manyoshu
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