From the rocks between
The mirume grows there—if still
It shows no change yet,
Ebbing tide and rising tide
May bring shells to cling at last.
- Meaning
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If the mirume seaweed growing from between the rocks still shows no change, perhaps with the ebbing and rising of the tide shells may yet come to cling to it.
- 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 woman’s reply to the man’s poem: "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?"
The man invited the woman to go with him to Ise, and the woman refused. Even so, the man continued to press her. This poem was composed in reply to such a man, meaning: although I do not now intend to meet you, if we continue to see each other my feelings may change, and in the end there may be some benefit from our long acquaintance.
"Mirume" is a pivot word referring both to "mirume" (a kind of seaweed) and to "the chance to see."
"Kai" is also a pivot word meaning both "shell" and "effect" or "benefit."
- Source
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Ise Monogatari
- Other
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