須磨の浦の凪ぎたる朝はめもはるに
霞にまがふ海人の釣舟
霞にまがふ海人の釣舟
- Roma-ji
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Suma no ura no nagitaru asa wa me mo haru ni kasumi ni magau ama no tsuribune
- English Translation
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At Suma Bay
on a morning calm and still,
far as eyes can reach
in spring, blurring into haze,
the fishing boats of fisherfolk.
- Meaning
- On a calm morning at Suma Bay, as far as the eye can reach across the spring sea, the fishing boats of the fisherfolk blur into the haze.
- Commentary
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Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems II 1598
Headnote: "Composed on going toward Suma in spring."
This is the first poem of the sequence on Suma. On a calm morning at Suma Bay, as far as the eye can see, the fishing boats of the fisherfolk blur into the haze. According to the headnote, the poem was composed when the poet went toward Suma in spring.
The author, "Fujiwara no Takayoshi," was a poet of the late Heian period.
Suma lies on the coast of Settsu Province, in present-day Suma Ward, Kobe. The site of the Suma Barrier, it is a poetic place name sung with the bay wind, salt-burning, and plovers.
The first line, "Suma no ura no," fixes the place at Suma Bay. From Naniwa in the preceding poem, the scene moves further west to Suma.
The second line, "nagitaru asa wa," means "on a morning when the wind has dropped and the sea is still." Against the midnight wind and dawn waves of the preceding poem, a calm morning sea is drawn here.
The third line, "me mo haru ni," pivots on "me mo haruka ni," "as far as the eye can see," and "haru," "spring," the season named in the headnote.
The fourth line, "kasumi ni magau," means "blurring into the haze," describing fishing boats lost among the spring haze.
The last line, "ama no tsuribune," ends in a noun, leaving the scene of fishing boats afloat in the haze as a lingering image.
- Author
- Fujiwara no Takayoshi
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
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Okitsu kaze yowa ni fukurashi naniwagata akatsuki kakete nami zo yosu naru
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Akikaze no seki fukikoyuru tabigoto ni koe uchisouru suma no uranami