Fune nagara koyoi bakari wa tabine sen shikitsu no nami ni yume wa samu tomo

English Translation

Aboard the boat still,
for tonight, just this once,
I will sleep as travelers do,
though the waves of Shikitsu
may wake me from my dreams.

Meaning

Just for tonight, I will sleep aboard the boat as a traveler does, even if the waves of Shikitsu wake me from my dreams.

Commentary

Book Ten Travel Poems 916

Headnote: "Composed when he went to the bay of Shikitsu for pleasure and spent the night on a boat."
This is the third of a sequence of poems on distant journeys and travel by water. The speaker resolves to sleep aboard the boat just this night, like a traveler, even if the waves of Shikitsu break his dreams, taking delight in a night on the bay. According to the headnote, it was composed when he went to Shikitsu Bay for pleasure and stayed the night on a boat.
The author, "Sanekata Ason," is Fujiwara no Sanekata. A poet of the mid-Heian period, he served as Middle Captain of the Left Palace Guards, later went down to Mutsu as governor, and died there. He is one of the Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals of the middle ages.
The scene is a night of pleasure at Shikitsu Bay, on a boat moored in the bay.
The direct occasion is an outing to Shikitsu Bay and a night spent on a boat.

The first line, "fune nagara," means "still aboard the boat." It begins in the same form as "tachinagara," the first line of 913, so that a night spent standing until dawn and a night spent aboard a boat form a pair.
The second line, "koyoi bakari wa," means "just for tonight." It shares the word "koyoi" with "koyoi wa akenu," the second line of 913; against that sleepless night, this is a night of sleep gladly chosen.
The third line, "tabine sen," means "I will sleep as a traveler." "N" expresses intention, and the poem breaks after this third line. A pleasure outing on a boat is deliberately called "tabine," sleeping on a journey.
The fourth line, "shikitsu no nami ni," means "by the waves of Shikitsu." Shikitsu Bay is said to be a bay near Sumiyoshi in Settsu Province.
The last line, "yume wa samu tomo," means "even if my dreams are broken." The concessive "tomo" shows a mind willing to be woken by the waves, and by inversion it attaches to "tabine sen" in the third line. Where 912 tells of a "tabine no yume" in which someone from home appears, this poem delights in a night's sleep on the road whose dreams the waves may break.

Author

Fujiwara no Sanekata

Source

Shin Kokin Wakashu

Other