蘆そよぐ潮瀬の浪のいつまでか
うき世の中にうかびわたらん
うき世の中にうかびわたらん
- Roma-ji
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Ashi soyogu shiose no nami no itsu made ka ukiyo no naka ni ukabi wataran
- English Translation
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Where the reeds rustle,
like waves upon the tidal shallows,
until when, I wonder,
in this sad world, drifting and afloat,
must I go on and on?
- Meaning
- Like the waves of the tidal shallows where the reeds rustle, how long must I go on floating and drifting through this sorrowful world?
- Commentary
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Book Twenty Buddhist Poems 1919
Headnote: "On hearing the rustle of reed leaves at the Mitsu temple in Naniwa."
This is the fourth poem in the opening sequence of poems attributed to deities and eminent monks. Identifying himself with the waves of the tidal shallows that rustle the reeds, the poet laments how long he must go on drifting in this sorrowful world. According to the headnote, it was composed on hearing the rustle of reed leaves at the Mitsu temple in Naniwa.
Into the uncertainty of floating on the waves he places the grief of one who cannot leave the world of delusion, expressing a longing for release.
The author, "Gyōki Bosatsu," was a monk of the Nara period. Traveling through the provinces, he taught the people while building bridges, ponds, and roads, and he assisted Emperor Shōmu in raising the Great Buddha of Tōdai-ji, for which he was appointed Daisōjō. Bosatsu (bodhisattva) is the title given him by people who revered his virtue.
Naniwa is the old name for the area of present-day Osaka, sung of as a waterside thick with reeds. Mitsu refers to the harbor of Naniwa.
The first line, "ashi soyogu," shows the reeds of the Naniwa shore stirring in the wind, taking up the headnote's "hearing the rustle of reed leaves."
The second line, "shiose no nami no," names the waves rising in the tidal shallows; up to here the image is a figure for the poet himself.
The third line, "itsu made ka," asks "until when?" with the particle "ka."
In the fourth line, "ukiyo no naka ni," "uki" is a pivot word joining "ukiyo," the sorrowful world, and "uki," floating on the waves. Following the two opening poems of the book, the word "yo no naka" appears again.
The last line, "ukabi wataran," closes the kakari-musubi of "ka" with the attributive "ran." "Waves," "float," "drift," and "cross" are associated words, expressing the instability of a life that keeps drifting on the water.
- Author
- Gyōki
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
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Yama fukaku toshi furu ware mo aru mono o izuchi ka tsuki no idete yuku ran
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Anokutara sanmyaku sanbodai no hotoketachi waga tatsu soma ni myōga arasetamae