Shida no ura o asa kogu fune wa yoshi nashi ni kogurame kamo yo yoshi kosarurame

志太の浦を朝漕ぐ船はよしなしに
漕ぐらめかもよよしこさるらめ

Roma-ji: Shida no ura o asa kogu fune wa yoshi nashi ni kogurame kamo yo yoshi kosarurame
English Translation: At the bay of Shida
the boat that rows out at dawn—
without any cause
would it row away like that?
Surely, there must be a reason.
Meaning: The boat rowing across Shida Bay in the morning—would it row without a reason? Surely it has its cause.
Commentary: Book Fourteen Azuma Poems 3430

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Allegorical Poems"
Just as a boat rowing Shida Bay in the early morning must have its reason, so must the lover leaving at dawn, the singer surmises. It is a witty allegory that likens a man returning home at dawn to a boat.
The left note reads "The poem above is from Suruga Province." Shida Bay is thought to be the shore near present-day Yaizu and Fujieda in Shizuoka.
The poet is unknown. The Azuma uta are thought to have been sung among the people of the eastern provinces, and they are marked by plain, open-hearted expression mixed with local dialect.

First line, "shida no ura o": Shida Bay in Suruga, naming a Suruga place after the Suruga poems that began at 3355.
Second line, "asa kogu fune wa": A boat rowing in early morning, likened to a man departing at dawn.
Third line, "yoshi nashi ni": "Yoshi" means reason: without any reason.
Fourth line, "kogurame kamo yo": "Rame kamo" is rhetorical: would it row for no reason? Surely not.
Final line, "yoshi kosarurame": "Kosaru" is read as "having come" or as an eastern form of "koso are": there must be a reason. "Yoshi" is repeated in the third and last lines.
Source: Manyoshu
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