数ならで世にすみの江の澪標
いつをまつともなき身なりけり
いつをまつともなき身なりけり
- Roma-ji
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Kazu narade yo ni Suminoe no miotsukushi itsu o matsu tomo naki mi narikeri
- English Translation
-
Counting for nothing,
I dwell in the world, a marker
at Suminoe, spent,
and find myself one who has
no season left to wait for.
- Meaning
- Counting for nothing, I dwell in the world like a channel marker at Suminoe, spending myself, yet I am one with no time to wait for.
- Commentary
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Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Poems III 1792
Headnote: "Topic unknown."
This is the second of the poems on the pine. Of no account, he lives in the world and, like a channel marker at Suminoe, spends himself, yet has no time to look forward to. He entrusts his grief at his obscurity to the channel markers and pines of Suminoe. The headnote gives no topic, and the circumstances of composition are not recorded.
The author, "Gorai Ason," is Minamoto no Toshiyori. The original writes "後頼," apparently an error for "俊頼." A son of Minamoto no Tsunenobu, he compiled the Kin'yō Wakashū and wrote the poetic treatise Toshiyori Zuinō.
Suminoe is a shore in Settsu Province, in present-day Sumiyoshi Ward, Osaka, a poetic place sung of together with the pines of Sumiyoshi and its channel markers.
The first line, "kazu narade," means "being of no account."
In the second line, "yo ni Suminoe no," "sumi" is a pivot word meaning both "dwelling" in the world and the place name Suminoe.
The third line, "miotsukushi," is a stake set up to mark a channel for boats. Its sound echoes "mi o tsukushi," "spending oneself," suggesting years of devoted service.
In the fourth line, "itsu o matsu tomo," "matsu" is a pivot word meaning both "to wait" and the "pine" for which Suminoe is famous.
In the last line, "naki mi narikeri," "keri" expresses realization. He comes to see himself as one with no time of reward to wait for, lamenting his obscurity. The next poem too sings of the Sumiyoshi pine.
- Author
- Minamoto no Toshiyori
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Chitose furu matsu dani kutsuru yo no naka ni kyō to mo shirade tateru ware kana
- Next Poem
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Ukinagara hisashiku zo yo o suginikeru aware ya kakeshi Sumiyoshi no matsu