紀の国や由良の湊に拾ふてふ
たまさかにだに逢ひ見てしがな
たまさかにだに逢ひ見てしがな
- Roma-ji
-
Ki no kuni ya Yura no minato ni hirou chō tamasaka ni dani aimiteshigana
- English Translation
-
In the land of Ki,
at Yura's harbor, they say,
one may find a gem:
if only by such rare chance,
O that we might meet at last
- Meaning
- At the harbor of Yura in the land of Ki, they say one may chance upon a gem; if only by such rare chance, I long to meet you.
- Commentary
-
Book Eleven Love Poems I 1075
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown."
This is the fifth poem of the sequence on love whose course is unknown, sung through boats. Through the gem said to be found at the harbor of Yura, the poet wishes to meet, if only by rare chance. The headnote gives no topic, and the circumstances of composition are not recorded.
The author, "Provisional Middle Counselor Nagakata," is Fujiwara no Nagakata. A son of the Consultant Fujiwara no Akiyori, he rose to Provisional Middle Counselor.
In the first line, "ya" is exclamatory, calling up the province of Kii.
The second line, "Yura no minato ni," means "at the harbor of Yura." It is the same harbor as in 1073, Yoshitsune's poem, where it was the haven a drifting boat came to.
The third line, "hirou chō," means "which, they say, one picks up." "Chō" is a contraction of "to iu," and the first three lines, drawing on the lore of gems found at the harbor, form a preface leading to "tama."
In the fourth line, "tama" echoes the gem one is said to pick up, and "dani" means "at least, if only."
The last line expresses a wish and matches the last lines of 1051 and 1072. Where the poems before sang of boats with no known course, this one turns to the good fortune of finding a gem in harbor, closing the sequence with a wish to meet even by chance.
- Author
- Fujiwara no Nagakata
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
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Shirube se yo ato naki nami ni kogu fune no yukue mo shiranu yae no shiokaze
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Tsure mo naki hito no kokoro no uki ni hau ashi no shitane no ne o koso wa nake