涙のみ浮き出づる海人の釣竿の
長き夜すがら恋ひつつぞ寝る
長き夜すがら恋ひつつぞ寝る
- Roma-ji
-
Namida nomi ukiizuru ama no tsurizao no nagaki yosugara koitsutsu zo nuru
- English Translation
-
Only tears rise up
and float out, like the fisher's
long fishing pole—
all through this long night
I lie longing for you
- Meaning
- Only tears well up and float away; all through a night as long as a fisherman's fishing pole, I lie down to sleep, longing for you.
- Commentary
-
Book Fifteen Love Poems V 1356
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown."
This is the first poem of the sequence on tears and waters. With only tears welling up, the speaker lies alone longing through a night as long as a fisherman's fishing pole. The headnote gives no topic, and the circumstances of composition are not recorded.
The author, "Poem by Emperor Kōkō," is Emperor Kōkō, a son of Emperor Ninmyō. He took the throne at fifty-five as the fifty-eighth sovereign and reigned a little over three years.
The first line, "namida nomi," means "only tears." It takes up the "tears on waking" of the preceding poem.
The second line, "ukiizuru ama no," runs to eight syllables, one over the count. From tears welling up, it moves to the figure of a fisherman floating on the sea.
Up to the third line, "tsurizao no," the words form a preface leading to "nagaki" (long). The fisherman's long pole turns into the length of the night.
The fourth line, "nagaki yosugara," means "all through the long night."
The last line, "koitsutsu zo nuru," closes the kakari-musubi of "zo" with the attributive "nuru." From the showers of the sky in the preceding poems, the tears move to the sea, continuing into the river of tears in the next poem.
- Author
- Emperor Koko
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Hito shirenu nezame no namida furimichite samo shiguretsuru yowa no sora kana
- Next Poem
-
Makura nomi uku to omoishi namidagawa ima wa waga mi no shizumu narikeri