Sayochidori koe koso chikaku narumigata katabuku tsuki ni shio ya mitsuran

English Translation

Plovers of the night—
their cries are drawing nearer
on Narumi's flats;
beneath the sinking moon
is the tide now coming in?

Meaning

The cries of the night plovers are drawing nearer on the tidal flats of Narumi—is the tide coming in beneath the sinking moon?

Commentary

Book Six Winter Poems 648

Headnote: "For the Poetry Contest in Fifteen Hundred Rounds."
This is the eighth poem of the plover sequence. Noticing that the cries of night plovers on the flats of Narumi have drawn nearer, the speaker wonders whether the tide is coming in beneath the sinking moon. According to the headnote, it was composed for the Poetry Contest in Fifteen Hundred Rounds.
The author, "Senior Third Rank Suetaka," is Fujiwara no Suetaka. He was a courtier from the late Heian into the early Kamakura period who rose to Senior Third Rank.
The scene is late at night with the moon sinking, and the place is the tidal flats of Narumi in Owari Province.
The direct occasion is the Poetry Contest in Fifteen Hundred Rounds held by Retired Emperor Go-Toba.

The first line, "sayochidori," refers to plovers crying at night.
The second line, "koe koso chikaku," means "their cries, nearer," with the particle "koso" singling out "voice" with emphasis. It shows that the birds are unseen and only their cries draw near.
The third line, "narumigata," names a poetic place in Owari Province, tidal flats around present-day Midori Ward, Nagoya. "Naru" carries both the cries "becoming" nearer and the place name Narumi.
The fourth line, "katabuku tsuki ni," means "beneath the moon sinking westward." "Kata" of "gata," flats, in the third line echoes in "katabuku."
The last line, "shio ya mitsuran," closes with the attributive form of the conjectural auxiliary "ran," answering the interrogative particle "ya," and wonders, "is the tide coming in?" When the tide rises the flats narrow and the plovers draw near the shore, so the poem infers the rising tide from the nearing cries. Following the preceding poem's plover of Fukiage under a clear moon, it sings of plovers on the flats of Narumi under a sinking moon, and the next poems, 649 and 650, also sing of the plovers of Narumi.

Author

Fujiwara no Sueyoshi

Source

Shin Kokin Wakashu

Other