Kinō koso funade wa seshika isanatori hijiki no nada o kyō mitsuru kamo

昨日こそ船出はせしか鯨魚取り
比治奇の灘を今日見つるかも

Roma-ji: Kinō koso funade wa seshika isanatori hijiki no nada o kyō mitsuru kamo
English Translation: Only yesterday
did we set out in our ship,
and where whales are caught
the broad sea of Hijiki
today I have looked upon
Meaning: It was only yesterday that we put out to sea, yet today we have already seen the open waters of Hijiki, where the whale-hunters go.
Commentary: Book Seventeen 3893

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "In the eleventh month, winter, of the second year of Tenpyō, when Lord Ōtomo, Governor-General of Dazaifu, was appointed Major Counselor (while keeping his post as before) and went up to the capital, his attendants took a separate sea route. Grieving over the journey, each set down his heart in these ten poems"
Having set sail only yesterday, the poet is already gazing on the Sea of Hijiki today, surprised at the speed of the voyage. In 730, when Ōtomo no Tabito, Governor-General of Dazaifu, was appointed Major Counselor and returned to the capital, his attendants traveled separately by sea and set down the sorrows of their voyage in ten poems. Apparently composed on reaching the Hibiki Sea near the Kanmon Strait after leaving Tsukushi, it sets "yesterday" against "today" to convey both the progress of the journey and thoughts of the receding land.
The left note records the poet's name as unknown; he was one of the attendants of Tabito who traveled to the capital by sea.

First line, "kinō koso": koso is an emphatic particle answered by seshika (the realis form of the past auxiliary ki) in the second line—"it was yesterday, of all days."
Second line, "funade wa seshika": "we set out by ship, yet…," concluding in the realis form and running on adversatively. The poem pauses here.
Third line, "isanatori": a pillow word for the sea, shores and open waters, from "where whales are taken."
Fourth line, "Hijiki no nada o": the Sea of Hijiki is thought to be today's Hibiki Sea, between Yamaguchi and northern Fukuoka.
Fifth line, "kyō mitsuru kamo": "today I have seen it," with tsuru the attributive of the perfective tsu and kamo an exclamation. "Today," answering "yesterday" in the first line, impresses the swiftness of passing time.
Source: Manyoshu
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