Shiogama no mae ni ukitaru Ukishima no ukite omoi no aru yo narikeri - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

塩竈の前に浮きたる浮島の
うきて思ひのある世なりけり

Roma-ji: Shiogama no mae ni ukitaru Ukishima no ukite omoi no aru yo narikeri
English Translation: At Shiogama,
floating out before the bay,
the Floating Isle—
floating, sorrowful, my love
is a bond of endless longing
Meaning: Like the Floating Isle drifting before the bay of Shiogama, my heart is unsettled and sorrowful; ours is a bond full of anxious longing.
Commentary: Book Fifteen Love Poems V 1379

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Sent to Middle Counselor Yakamochi."
This is the fifth poem of the sequence on sleeves and waters. Like the Floating Isle before Shiogama, the speaker's heart floats unsettled, and theirs is a bond of unending sorrow. The text gives no author name, and it is arranged as a poem by Princess Yamaguchi continuing from the preceding poem.
The author, "Princess Yamaguchi," was a woman poet of the Nara period. She is known to have sent poems to Ōtomo no Yakamochi; her lineage is not clear.
Shiogama is a poetic site in Mutsu Province, present-day Shiogama, Miyagi Prefecture. It is known as a bay where salt was burned, and Ukishima is said to be an island floating in that bay.

The first line, "Shiogama no," is the name of a salt-burning bay, taking up the tide imagery of the preceding poems.
The second line, "mae ni ukitaru," means "floating before the bay."
The third line, "Ukishima no," is the name of an island in the bay. Repeating the same sound in "uki" and "Ukishima," the first three lines form a preface leading to "uki" in the fourth line.
In the fourth line, "ukite omoi no," "uki" is a pivot word joining the island "floating" and a heart that is "sorrowful."
In the last line, "aru yo narikeri," "yo" means the bond between lovers, and the speaker exclaims with "keri" of realization. Following the incoming tide of the preceding poem, an island floating on that sea shows the unsettled state of love.
Author: Princess Yamaguchi
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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