Kaeramani kimi koso ware ni takuhire no shirahama nami no yoru toki mo naki

かへらまに君こそ我れに栲領巾の
白浜波の寄る時もなき

Roma-ji: Kaeramani kimi koso ware ni takuhire no shirahama nami no yoru toki mo naki
English Translation: Rather, it is you
who, unlike a mulberry scarf,
is never drawing near,
waves upon the white beach
that come to me at no time
Meaning: On the contrary, it is you who never come near me, never once, as the waves come to the white beach.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2823

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Questions and Answers"
The speaker retorts that it is not she who is cold: on the contrary, it is he who never comes near her as the waves come to the white beach. Where the man in the preceding poem lamented the woman's coldness, the woman here turns his reproach straight back on him.
By the left note "the two poems above," this is the answer paired with the preceding poem, 2822. It borrows the same "takuhire no shirahama nami no" and takes up "yori mo aezu" as "yoru toki mo naki," reversing the roles of accuser and accused. The wit of the exchange lies in turning the other's own preface back upon him.
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, "kaeramani": "on the contrary." Opening with a word that overturns the preceding reproach, it marks the poem plainly as an answer.
Second line, "kimi koso ware ni": "it is you who, to me." The particle "koso" sets "you" in strong relief and is answered by "naki" in the last line. "Koso" is normally answered by the perfective form, but here the ending is the attributive form.
Third line, "takuhire no": a pillow word attached to "white," answering the first line of the preceding poem with the same words.
Fourth line, "shirahama nami no": "like the waves on the white beach." The third and fourth lines form a preface leading to "yoru" ("draw near"), taking over the first two lines of the preceding poem.
Fifth line, "yoru toki mo naki": "there is never a time you draw near." Answering "yori mo aezu" in the preceding poem, it retorts that he is the one who stays away, and it closes the construction begun by "koso."
Source: Manyoshu
Prev Poem: Takuhire no shirahama nami no yori mo aezu araburu imo ni koitsutsu zo oru
Next Poem: Omou hito komu to shiriseba yaemugura ōeru niwa ni tama shikamashi o