Waka no ura ya okitsu shioai ni ukabiizuru aware waga mi no yorube shiraseyo - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

和歌の浦や沖つ潮合に浮かび出づる
あはれ我が身の寄るべ知らせよ

Roma-ji: Waka no ura ya okitsu shioai ni ukabiizuru aware waga mi no yorube shiraseyo
English Translation: O Bay of Waka!
Out where the tides of the offing
meet and intermingle,
I have surfaced—ah, this self—
show me a shore where I may rest.
Meaning: O Bay of Waka! Show me, ah, a shore on which to rest this self of mine, risen to the surface where the tides of the offing meet.
Commentary: Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Poems III 1761

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On the feeling of personal grievance, at the Poetry Office."
This is the fifth of the sequence composed at the Poetry Office on personal grievance and the second of three by Fujiwara no Ietaka. He calls on the Bay of Waka to show a shore to rest upon to himself, who has risen to the surface where the tides of the offing meet. It speaks of one who has come up in the world through the way of poetry and seeks something to rely on for the future.
The author, "Ietaka Ason," is Fujiwara no Ietaka. No author is named in the original; the attribution continues from the preceding poem. A son of Fujiwara no Mitsutaka, he was one of the compilers of the Shin Kokinshū. He rose to Minister of the Imperial Household and was ranked alongside Fujiwara no Teika.
The Bay of Waka is a shore in Kii Province, in present-day Wakayama City, where the Tamatsushima Shrine to the god of poetry stands. Because of its name it was sung of as a poetic place symbolizing the way of waka.

The first line, "Waka no ura ya," is an address to the poetic place. With six syllables, one over the norm, it sets first a place name symbolizing the way of poetry, fitting for one who serves in the Poetry Office.
The second line, "okitsu shioai ni," means "where the tides of the offing meet." It runs to eight syllables, one over the norm.
The third line, "ukabiizuru," means "risen to the surface," a figure for himself, come up in the world through poetry. It has six syllables, one over the norm.
In the fourth line, "aware waga mi no," "aware" is an interjection, "ah." It laments the helplessness of the self that has surfaced.
The last line, "yorube shiraseyo," means "show me a shore to rest on." Calling on the Bay of Waka in the imperative, it entrusts his future to the way of poetry. The rhythm, heavy with extra syllables, suggests a self rocking on the tide.
Author: Fujiwara no Ietaka
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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