classic waka stream

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  • Sankashu

Iwa no ne ni kataomuki ni nami ukite awabi o kazuku ama no muragimi

At the base of the rocks, all facing one way and floating side by side on the waves, the chiefs of the fisherfolk dive for abalone.

Sankashu - Saigyō

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Kodai hiku ami no ukenawa yorikumeri uki shiwaza aru shiosaki no ura

They twist and braid the floating ropes of the nets for hauling sea bream—Shiosaki Bay, where people ply this sad trade of floats.

Sankashu - Saigyō

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Kasumi shiku nami no hatsuhana orikakete sakuradai tsuru oki no amabune

Out where the haze lies spread and the first blossoms of the waves break and bend, the fishing boats far offshore are angling for cherry bream.

Sankashu - Saigyō

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Amabito no iso shite kaeru hijikimono wa konishi hamaguri kōna shitadami

What the fisherfolk bring home from the rocky shore: little whelks, clams, hermit crabs, and periwinkles.

Sankashu - Saigyō

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Isona tsuman ima oisomuru wakafunori mirume gibasa hijiki kokorobuto

Let us gather shore greens: young funori just sprouting, mirume, gibasa, hijiki, and the weed for tokoroten.

Sankashu - Saigyō

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Sugashima ya tōshi no koishi wakekaete kuroshiro maze yo ura no hamakaze

Swap the pebbles of Sugashima and Tōshi, O shore wind of the bay, and mix the black and the white together!

Sankashu - Saigyō

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Sakishima no koishi no shiro o takanami no tōshi no hama ni uchiyosetekeru

The high waves must have carried the white pebbles of Sakishima and cast them up here on the beach of Tōshi.

Sankashu - Saigyō

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Karasuzaki no hama no koishi to omou kana shiro mo majiranu sugashima no kuro

The black pebbles of Sugashima, without a single white one among them—I take them for pebbles from the beach of Karasuzaki, Crow Cape.

Sankashu - Saigyō

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Awaseba ya sagi to karasu to go o utaba tōshi sugashima kuroshiro no hama

How I would love to match them—if the white heron and the black crow were to play go, using the black and white pebbles of the beaches of Tōshi and Sugashima.

Sankashu - Saigyō

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Ima zo shiru futami no ura no hamaguri o kaiawase tote ōu narikeri

Now I understand: the clams of Futami Bay are being gathered to be covered and matched for the shell-matching game.

Sankashu - Saigyō

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Akoya toru igai no kara o tsumiokite takara no ato o misuru narikeri

The igai shells from which the pearls were taken are heaped up, showing the traces of treasure that once lay within.

Sankashu - Saigyō

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Iragozaki ni katsuo tsuribune narabi ukite hagachi no nami ni ukabitsutsu zo yoru

At Cape Irago the bonito fishing boats float side by side, riding the waves of the hagachi wind as they draw in to shore.

Sankashu - Saigyō

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Sudaka wataru irago ga saki o utagaite nao ki ni kaeru yamagaeri kana

Doubtful of crossing Cape Irago, where the nest-reared hawks fly over, it returns to the trees after all—a hawk true to its name, yamagaeri, "back to the mountains."

Sankashu - Saigyō

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Hashitaka no suzuro kasade mo furusasete suetaru hito no arigata no yo ya

One who keeps a sparrow hawk on the hand, never sending it off rashly but letting it grow old in his care—how rare such a person is in this world!

Sankashu - Saigyō

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Ujigawa no hayase ochimau ryōbune no kazuki ni chigau koi no muramake

Down the rapids of the Uji River the fishing boats come tumbling, and the schools of carp slip past the spears thrust down from them.

Sankashu - Saigyō

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Kobae tsudou numa no irie no mo no shita wa hito tsukeokane fushi ni zo arikeru

Beneath the waterweeds in the marsh inlet where the little minnows gather, there was a brushwood trap that no one had set.

Sankashu - Saigyō

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