Matsuyama no nami no keshiki wa kawaraji o katanaku kimi wa narimashinikeri

松山の波のけしきは変はらじを
形なく君はなりましにけり

Roma-ji: Matsuyama no nami no keshiki wa kawaraji o katanaku kimi wa narimashinikeri
English Translation: The look of the waves
of Matsuyama will not
have changed since then,
yet you, my lord, have passed on,
leaving not a single trace.
Meaning: The waves of Matsuyama surely look as they always did, yet you, my lord, have vanished without a trace.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 1354

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Visiting Sanuki, I sought at the port of Matsuyama the traces of where the retired emperor had stayed, but there was nothing left"
At the same port of Matsuyama: the waves surely look as they did, yet the emperor has vanished without a trace, the poet laments.
Setting unchanging nature against the emperor who has vanished, he laments the impermanence of human life. Taking up "nothing left" of the headnote in katanaku, he lays the emperor's death over the disappearance of his traces.

First line, “matsuyama no”: of Matsuyama, the same first line as the preceding poem.
Second line, “nami no keshiki wa”: the look of the waves.
Third line, “kawaraji o”: ji is negative conjecture, o concessive, "though they will not have changed."
Fourth line, “katanaku kimi wa”: you, without a trace, answering the headnote.
Fifth line, “narimashinikeri”: mashi is an honorific auxiliary, "you have become so."
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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