Sazanami no Hira yamakaze no umi fukeba tsuri suru ama no sode kaeru miyu - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

さざなみの比良山風の海吹けば
釣りする海人の袖かへる見ゆ

Roma-ji: Sazanami no Hira yamakaze no umi fukeba tsuri suru ama no sode kaeru miyu
English Translation: Over Sazanami
the wind from Mount Hira sweeps
across the waters,
and I see the fishers' sleeves
fluttering as they cast their lines.
Meaning: When the wind from Mount Hira blows across the lake, I see the sleeves of the fishers at their lines fluttering in it.
Commentary: Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Poems III 1702

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
This is the first of the poems on fisherfolk. When the mountain wind from Hira blows across the lake, the sleeves of the fishers at their lines can be seen fluttering. It is a simple poem that paints the lakeside scene just as it is. Placed after Sugawara no Michizane's sequence, it turns to poems about people who live by the water. The headnote gives no topic, and the circumstances of composition are not recorded.
The author is given as "Anonymous," and the name has not come down.
A poem of almost the same content appears in Book Nine of the Man'yōshū.
Mount Hira is a range in Ōmi Province along the western shore of Lake Biwa, a poetic place known for the mountain winds that sweep down to the lake.

The first line, "sazanami no," is an old name for the area along the southwestern shore of Lake Biwa, used as a pillow word for "Hira" and "Shiga."
The second line, "Hira yamakaze no," is the wind blowing down from Mount Hira.
In the third line, "umi fukeba," the "sea" is Lake Biwa. "Ba" after the realis form marks a condition, "when the wind blows." Taking up the sea and waves of Michizane's sequence, this poem too is set by the water.
In the fourth line, "tsuri suru ama no," "ama" are people who live by fishing. The next poem also speaks of "a fisher's child," and poems on fisherfolk continue.
The last line, "sode kaeru miyu," means "I see the sleeves flutter in the wind." Ending firmly on the conclusive "miyu," it presents the scene just as it meets the eye.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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