Kaze fukeba yoso ni narumi no kataomoi omowanu nami ni naku chidori kana

English Translation

When the wind blows,
driven far from Narumi's flats,
a love for them unreturned,
crying at the heartless waves—
ah, the plovers!

Meaning

When the wind blows, the plovers are driven far from the flats of Narumi; longing for them in a love that is not returned, they cry out at waves that care nothing for them.

Commentary

Book Six Winter Poems 649

Headnote: "On the scene of the Bay of Narumi painted on the sliding panels of the Saishō Shitennō-in."
This is the ninth poem of the plover sequence. It sings of plovers driven by the wind from the flats of Narumi, crying at unexpected waves as they long for the flats in an unreturned love. According to the headnote, it was composed for a painting of the Bay of Narumi on the sliding panels of the Saishō Shitennō-in.
The author, "Fujiwara no Hideyoshi," is Fujiwara no Hideyoshi. A son of Fujiwara no Hidemune, he served Retired Emperor Go-Toba as a warrior of the Northern Guard and, after the Jōkyū Disturbance, took holy orders under the name Nyogan.
The scene is a time of blowing wind, and the place is the Bay of Narumi in Owari Province.
The direct occasion is composing a poem for the painting of the famous Bay of Narumi on the sliding panels of the Saishō Shitennō-in.

The first line, "kaze fukeba," means "when the wind blows," with "ba" attached to the perfective form expressing an established condition.
In the second line, "yoso ni narumi no," "narumi" carries both "naru mi," a self that becomes distant, and the place name Narumi. It speaks of being blown away from the flats and set at a distance.
In the third line, "kataomoi," "kata" carries both "kata," tidal flats, and "kata" of "kataomoi," one-sided love. Running on from "Narumigata," it expresses the plovers' unreturned longing for the flats.
The fourth line, "omowanu nami ni," means "at unexpected waves," and answering "kataomoi" in the third line, it also holds the sense of waves that do not return the plovers' love.
The last line, "naku chidori kana," closes with the exclamatory particle "kana." Likening the plovers leaving the flats of Narumi to a lover parted from the beloved in one-sided love, the poem layers pivot words to bring the mood of a love poem into a winter scene. Where the preceding poem sang of plover cries drawing near as the tide rose on Narumi's flats, this poem sings of plovers parted from the flats by wind and waves, pairing plovers that approach with plovers that are driven away.

Author

Fujiwara no Hideyoshi

Source

Shin Kokin Wakashu

Other