ながめよと思はでしもや帰るらん
月待つ波の海人の釣舟
月待つ波の海人の釣舟
- Roma-ji
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Nagame yo to omowade shimo ya kaeruran tsuki matsu nami no ama no tsuribune
- English Translation
-
Not thinking at all
'Gaze on us,' are they heading
home, I wonder—
the fishing boats of the folk
on waves that wait for the moon?
- Meaning
- Are they rowing home without a thought of being gazed at—the fisherfolk's boats upon the waves that wait for the moon to rise?
- Commentary
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Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Poems I 1559
Headnote: "When, on the occasion of a pilgrimage to Kumano, the courtiers composed poems on the spirit of 'A View of the Seashore' at the lodging at Kirime."
This is the sixth and last poem of the sequence on the moon at the seashore. The fisherfolk's boats on waves that await the rising moon row home, the poet wonders, without thinking to be gazed at. According to the headnote, it was composed at the lodging at Kirime during a pilgrimage to Kumano, when the courtiers composed poems on the topic "A View of the Seashore."
The author, "Tomochika," was the son of Minamoto no Moromitsu. He was the elder brother of Kunaikyō and became a Fellow of the Bureau of Poetry.
Kirime is a seaside place in Kii, one of the lodgings along the road to Kumano. "A View of the Seashore" is a topic on the prospect of the seashore.
The first line, "nagame yo to," means "gaze on us." It shows the fishing boats being viewed as part of the scenery.
The second line, "omowade shimo ya," means "without thinking," adding the emphatic "shimo" and the interrogative "ya."
The third line, "kaeruran," closes the kakari-musubi of the particle "ya" with the attributive form "ran." It guesses at the fishing boats heading back to the bay, and the poem breaks after the third line.
The fourth line, "tsuki matsu nami no," means "of the waves that wait for the moon." It shows a sea where the moon is about to rise.
The last line, "ama no tsuribune," ends on a noun. Setting on a sea awaiting the moonrise the fishing boats heading home unaware, it contrasts the heart of the one who gazes with the life of the fisherfolk, closing the sequence on the moon at the seashore.
- Author
- Minamoto no Tomochika
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
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Akashigata iro naki hito no sode o miyo suzuro ni tsuki mo yadoru mono ka wa
- Next Poem
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Shime okite ima ya to omou akiyama no yomogi ga moto ni matsumushi no naku