Imo ni koi waka no matsubara miwataseba shiohi no kata ni tazu nakiwataru

English Translation

Longing for my love,
I gaze out over the pines
of Waka's broad shore;
on the tidal flats at ebb
the cranes pass over, crying.

Meaning

Longing for my wife, I gaze across the pine grove of Waka, whose name means "my own"; over the flats laid bare by the ebbing tide, cranes fly past, crying.

Commentary

Book Ten Travel Poems 897

Headnote: "When the Emperor made an imperial progress to Ise Province in the tenth month of Tenpyō 12."
This is the second of a sequence of travel poems from the age of the Man'yōshū. Longing for his wife, the speaker gazes over the pine grove of Waka and sees cranes crossing the ebb-tide flats, crying, a seaside scene on the imperial journey. According to the headnote, it was composed during a progress to Ise Province.
The author, Emperor Shōmu, was the forty-fifth sovereign. A son of Emperor Monmu, he is known for erecting the Great Buddha of Tōdaiji.
The scene is the imperial progress in the tenth month of Tenpyō 12 (740), at the pine grove of Waka on the shore of Ise Province.
The direct occasion is the imperial progress to Ise Province.
The poem is included in Book Six of the Man'yōshū as the Emperor's own poem from the progress to Ise.

The first line, "imo ni koi," means "longing for my love." The thought of the wife left in the capital is set at the opening and leads into "waka."
The second line, "waka no matsubara," is a pine grove on the shore of Ise. "Waka" carries the sense of "waga," "my," so that the speaker longing for his wife and the place name are joined in one word. Where the preceding poem thinks of "kimi," this one is placed beside it as a poem thinking of "imo."
The third line, "miwataseba," means "when I gaze out." The realis form with "ba" turns to the scene that meets the eye.
The fourth line, "shiohi no kata ni," means "on the flats at ebb tide." The seaside scene of the journey is given concretely.
The last line, "tazu nakiwataru," means "the cranes pass over, crying." The longing of the first line is laid over the cries of the passing cranes. Following "tobu tori no" in the preceding poem, this poem also ends with birds in flight, linking the first two poems of the book.

Author

Emperor Shōmu

Source

Shin Kokin Wakashu

Other