Sleeves wet with the sea,
As the fisher cuts and dries
Miru of the sea—
Is it only seeing me
That you will let it end so?
- Meaning
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Like the miru seaweed that fishermen cut and dry with sleeves wet from the sea, will you let this end merely by seeing me—while my sleeves are wet with tears as I plead with you?
- Commentary
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75. At Ōyodo
A certain man said to a woman, "I wish to take you with me to the province of Ise and live there together."
This poem is the man’s reply to the woman’s poem: "At Ōyodo’s shore / Where the miru seaweed grows— / Only seeing it, / My heart grows calm and gentle, / Though no words are spoken."
After the woman coldly refused the man’s invitation to live together in Ise, the man composed this poem with the feeling, "That is too cruel." It conveys the man’s earnest longing as he tries to persuade the woman and somehow wishes to live together with her.
"Sleeves wet" refers both to the fisherman whose sleeves are wet with seawater while gathering miru seaweed, and to the man whose sleeves are wet with tears after being rejected by the woman.
"Watatsumi," like "Watatsumi," means the god of the sea: "wata" means sea, "tsu" means "of," and "mi" refers to a deity.
- Source
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Ise Monogatari
- Other
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