Okitsu nami henami no kiyoru sada no ura no kono sada sugite nochi koimu kamo

沖つ波辺波の来寄る佐太の浦の
このさだ過ぎて後恋ひむかも

Roma-ji: Okitsu nami henami no kiyoru sada no ura no kono sada sugite nochi koimu kamo
English Translation: Waves from out at sea
and the waves along the shore
come to Sada Bay:
if I let this moment pass,
will I yearn for you hereafter
Meaning: Like the waves from the open sea and the shore-waves that come to Sada Bay, if I let this moment pass, will I be left to long for you hereafter?
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2732

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Feelings through Things"
Taking the name "Sada" of the bay where waves from the offing and along the shore come in, the speaker plays on "sada," the right moment to meet, and wonders whether letting it pass will mean longing later on. The urgency of knowing that regret will follow if the present is lost is expressed through the sound of a place name.
As a poem expressing feelings through things, it speaks through the waves that come to Sada Bay. As if taking up the unease of "awazu kamo aramu" in the preceding poem, it imagines the longing that follows a missed chance, so the sorrow of not meeting is seen in the passage of time.
The author is unknown. The anonymous poems of Book Eleven gather the love poems of people whose names have not come down to us.

First line, "okitsu nami": "the waves of the offing." "Tsu" is an old genitive particle meaning "no."
Second line, "henami no kiyoru": "where the shore-waves come in." By pairing waves of the offing with waves of the shore, it pictures a bay to which waves come without end.
Third line, "sada no ura no": "of Sada Bay." Its location is uncertain. Sung as six syllables, the line is hypermetric. The lines up to here form a preface, leading through the place name "Sada" to the homophone "sada."
Fourth line, "kono sada sugite": "letting this moment pass." "Sada" means time or occasion, turned to from the preface through the shared sound.
Fifth line, "nochi koimu kamo": "will I long for you later." "Mu" is conjectural and "kamo" an exclamatory particle with a note of question, expressing a heart that foresees regret.
Source: Manyoshu
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