Kamogawa no nochise shizukeku nochi mo awamu imo ni wa ware wa ima narazu tomo

鴨川の後瀬静けく後も逢はむ
妹には我れは今ならずとも

Roma-ji: Kamogawa no nochise shizukeku nochi mo awamu imo ni wa ware wa ima narazu tomo
English Translation: As at the Kamo,
the lower rapids run calm,
later let us meet,
I and my beloved girl,
even if it is not now
Meaning: As the lower shallows of the Kamo River run calm, let us meet later on, my beloved and I, even if it cannot be now.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2431

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Feelings through Things"
Just as the lower shallows of the Kamo River flow gently, the speaker calms his own eagerness, resolving to meet his beloved later in quiet, even if not at once. Picturing the calm lower stream against the swift upper waters, the poem shows a heart that accepts the present and waits for what is to come.
Following the poems on the Uji River, it turns to the Kamo River, also in Yamashiro. "Later you will be my wife" in poem 2428 and "let us meet later" in this poem correspond as songs that bear a love that cannot meet now by looking to the future.
The author is unknown; according to the left note, the poem comes from the Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection. That collection is thought to contain both Hitomaro's own poems and poems by others that he recorded. Kakinomoto no Hitomaro was a court poet active in the reigns of Empress Jito and Emperor Monmu, and is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "kamogawa no": the Kamo River of Yamashiro. The setting moves from the Uji River of the preceding poems to another river of the same province.
Second line, "nochise shizukeku": "as the lower shallows are calm." The lines up to here form a preface that leads, through the sound of nochi in nochise, to "later" in the third line.
Third line, "nochi mo awamu": "let us meet later." The auxiliary "mu" expresses intention, and the poem breaks here after the third line.
Fourth line, "imo ni wa ware wa": "I with my beloved." These words, which would naturally come before the third line, are placed after it in inversion.
Fifth line, "ima narazu tomo": "even if it is not now." "Tomo" expresses a concessive supposition, as the speaker persuades himself to accept not meeting now.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection
Source: Manyoshu
Prev Poem: Ujigawa no minawa sakamaki yuku mizu no koto kaerazu zo omoisometeshi
Next Poem: Koto ni idete iwaba yuyushimi yamagawa no tagitsu kokoro o sekaetarikeri