和歌の浦を松の葉越しに眺むれば
梢に寄する海人の釣舟
梢に寄する海人の釣舟
- Roma-ji
-
Waka no ura o matsu no hagoshi ni nagamureba kozue ni yosuru ama no tsuribune
- English Translation
-
At Waka Bay,
through the needles of the pines
as I gaze afar—
drawing up among the treetops,
the fishing boats of fisherfolk.
- Meaning
- As I gaze out over Waka Bay through the needles of the pines, the fishers' boats seem to come drifting in among the treetops.
- Commentary
-
Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems II 1603
Headnote: "Composed on the spirit of a distant view."
This is the second poem of the sequence on seaside bays. Gazing at Waka Bay through the pine needles, the poet sees the fishing boats seem to draw up among the treetops. According to the headnote, it was composed on the topic of a distant view.
The author, "Jakuren Hōshi," was named Fujiwara no Sadanaga in lay life. A nephew of Fujiwara no Shunzei, he became his adopted son. He was chosen as a compiler of the Shin Kokinshū but died before its completion.
Waka Bay lies on the coast of Kii Province, in present-day Wakayama. The deity of Tamatsushima is enshrined there, and it was revered as a place of the god of poetry.
The first line, "Waka no ura o," fixes the view on Waka Bay.
The second line, "matsu no hagoshi ni," means "through the needles of the pines." It sets up a composition that overlays the near pines and the distant sea.
The third line, "nagamureba," is the realis form with "ba," meaning "when I gaze."
The fourth line, "kozue ni yosuru," means "drawing up to the treetops." It captures the overlap of near and far, the distant boats seeming to float among the pine tops.
The last line, "ama no tsuribune," ends in a noun. 1598 in this book closes with the same last line, "ama no tsuribune"; against those boats lost in the haze, here the boats draw up to the treetops.
- Author
- Jakuren
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Ama obune toma fukikaesu urakaze ni hitori akashi no tsuki o koso mire
- Next Poem
-
Mizu no e no yoshino no miya wa kamisabite yowai taketaru ura no matsukaze