Amazakaru hina no nagachi o kogikureba akashi no to yori yamatoshima miyu

English Translation

From the far-off lands
beneath the distant heavens,
rowing the long way,
through the straits of Akashi
I see the isle of Yamato.

Meaning

Rowing the long sea road home from the remote provinces, far as the heavens, I see through the straits of Akashi the mountains of Yamato rising like an island.

Commentary

Book Ten Travel Poems 899

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
This is the fourth of a sequence of travel poems from the age of the Man'yōshū. Rowing the long way back from the distant provinces, the speaker sees the mountains of Yamato through the straits of Akashi, a moment of joy at nearing the capital. The headnote gives no topic, and the circumstances of composition are not recorded.
The author, "Hitomaro," is Kakinomoto no Hitomaro. He was a poet of the Asuka period who served as a court poet under Empress Jitō and Emperor Monmu, and was later revered as the saint of poetry.
The scene is a sea voyage from the western provinces toward the capital, at the straits of Akashi in Harima Province.
The direct occasion is not recorded.
The poem is included in Book Three of the Man'yōshū as one of eight travel poems by Kakinomoto no Hitomaro.

The first line, "amazakaru," is a pillow word for "hina," the remote provinces. It carries the sense of "far as the heavens."
The second line, "hina no nagachi o," means "the long way from the distant provinces." The single word "nagachi" conveys the length of the sea road.
The third line, "kogikureba," means "as I come rowing." The realis form with "ba" turns to the next scene. Where 896 speaks of leaving the capital with "okite inaba," here the journey draws toward it.
The fourth line, "akashi no to yori," means "through the straits of Akashi." Akashi is a famous place in Harima near the western border of the home provinces; from here the land of Yamato comes into view.
The last line, "yamatoshima miyu," means "I see the isle of Yamato." "Yamatoshima" likens the mountains of Yamato seen from the sea to an island. After the preceding poem imagines the pines of home waiting, here the homeland actually appears. Ending firmly on "miyu," the poem plainly conveys the joy of seeing home at the end of a long journey.

Author

Kakinomoto no Hitomaro

Source

Shin Kokin Wakashu

Other