水の江の吉野の宮は神さびて
齢たけたる浦の松風
齢たけたる浦の松風
- Roma-ji
-
Mizu no e no yoshino no miya wa kamisabite yowai taketaru ura no matsukaze
- English Translation
-
At Mizu no E,
the Yoshino palace stands
hallowed with the years—
grown so very old in age,
the pine wind across the bay.
- Meaning
- The Yoshino palace at Mizu no E has grown hallowed with age, and the wind in the pines by the bay blows as though it too had grown old.
- Commentary
-
Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems II 1604
Headnote: "For the Poetry Contest in Fifteen Hundred Rounds."
This is the third poem of the sequence on seaside bays. The Yoshino palace at Mizu no E has grown hallowed with age, and the pine wind by the bay blows as though it too had grown old. According to the headnote, it was presented at the Poetry Contest in Fifteen Hundred Rounds.
The author, "Shōsanmi Sueyoshi," is Fujiwara no Sueyoshi, a court noble of the late Heian and early Kamakura periods who rose to the Senior Third Rank.
The Poetry Contest in Fifteen Hundred Rounds was planned by Retired Emperor Go-Toba in Kennin 1 (1201), pairing the hundred-poem sequences of thirty poets into fifteen hundred rounds.
The first line, "mizu no e no," means "of the inlet by the water," modifying "Yoshino no miya."
The second line, "yoshino no miya wa," refers to an old detached palace. "Wa" sets it up as the topic.
The third line, "kamisabite," means "grown old and hallowed," showing the age of the palace.
The fourth line, "yowai taketaru," means "advanced in years." Taking up the age of the palace, the poet feels even the pine wind has grown old.
The last line, "ura no matsukaze," ends in a noun. As in 1588 in this book, which sang of the age of the beach pines, long years are seen layered upon the pines.
- Author
- Fujiwara no Sueyoshi
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
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Waka no ura o matsu no hagoshi ni nagamureba kozue ni yosuru ama no tsuribune
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Imasara ni sumiushi tote mo ikaga sen nada no shioya no yūgure no sora