海人小舟苫吹きかへす浦風に
ひとりあかしの月をこそ見れ
ひとりあかしの月をこそ見れ
- Roma-ji
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Ama obune toma fukikaesu urakaze ni hitori akashi no tsuki o koso mire
- English Translation
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A fisher's small boat,
its rush mats blown back and forth
by the wind off the bay—
alone I pass the night at Akashi
and gaze upon the moon.
- Meaning
- In the bay wind that flips back the rush mats of the fishers' little boat, I stay up alone through the night at Akashi, gazing at the moon.
- Commentary
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Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems II 1602
Headnote: "Composed on Akashi Bay."
This is the first poem of a sequence on seaside bays. As the bay wind flips back the rush mats of a fisher's small boat, the poet stays up alone all night gazing at the moon of Akashi. According to the headnote, it was composed with Akashi Bay as its topic.
The author, "Toshiyori Ason," was a son of Minamoto no Tsunenobu and compiled the Kin'yōshū at the command of Retired Emperor Shirakawa.
Akashi Bay lies on the coast of Harima Province, in present-day Akashi, Hyōgo Prefecture. Famed for its moon, it is often sung together with Suma.
The first line, "ama obune," is the small boat of the fisherfolk. Moving west from the preceding Suma sequence, it shifts the scene to Akashi Bay.
The second line, "toma fukikaesu," means "blowing back the rush mats" that cover the boat.
The third line, "urakaze ni," means "by the wind off the bay." As with the autumn wind of Suma in 1599 in this book, the seaside wind sets the scene in motion.
The fourth line, "hitori akashi no," pivots on "akasu," "to stay up through the night," and the place name Akashi.
The last line, "tsuki o koso mire," closes the kakari-musubi of "koso" with the realis form "mire." It strongly marks the moon seen alone, depicting the loneliness of a night on a journey.
- Author
- Minamoto no Toshiyori
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Hito sumanu fuwa no sekiya no itabisashi arenishi nochi wa tada aki no kaze
- Next Poem
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Waka no ura o matsu no hagoshi ni nagamureba kozue ni yosuru ama no tsuribune