From between the waves
The eaves of a fisher’s hut
On a little isle—
Long it has become indeed
Since I last met and saw you.

Meaning

From between the waves I see the eaves of a fisher’s hut on a small island. It has been a long time since I last met and saw you.

Commentary

116. The Eaves by the Shore

A certain man, though with no particular reason, set out along the road toward the Ōshū region.
The poem was composed and sent to the woman he loved who remained in the capital.

The man, unable to give up his feelings for the woman in the capital, traveled to Mutsu. Far from the capital, he seems to have put his heart in order and expressed his honest feelings in this poem.

“Hamabisashi” refers to the eaves of a hut by the shore and also serves as a wordplay with “hisashiku,” meaning “for a long time.”

Source

Ise Monogatari

Other

Reproach me not That I seem like an old man. In my hunting robe, Only for this day, they say— Even the cranes cry so.
More than burning coals That cling and burn upon me, What is more sorrow— Is the parting that must be By the shore of Miyakojima.
Even I, seeing it, Find that long years have now passed— At Sumiyoshi shore, That fair pine upon the bank, How many ages has it known?
In close affection you know it not—like white waves at Mizugaki's shore; since ages long ago I began to offer praise.

From between the waves The eaves of a fisher’s hut On a little isle— Long it has become indeed Since I last met and saw you.

From between the waves
The eaves of a fisher’s hut
On a little isle—
Long it has become indeed
Since I last met and saw you.