Nami no hana oki kara sakite chirikumeri mizu no haru to wa kaze ya naru ramu - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

波の花沖からさきて散り来めり
水の春とは風やなるらむ

Roma-ji: Nami no hana oki kara sakite chirikumeri mizu no haru to wa kaze ya naru ramu
English Translation: Flowers of the waves
blossom from the offing
and scatter toward us—
for the springtime of the waters
is it the wind that becomes spring?
Meaning: The flowers of the waves seem to bloom out in the offing and come scattering toward the shore—is it the wind that becomes the spring of the waters?
Commentary: Book Ten Names of Things 459

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Karasaki"
This poem says that the flowers of the waves seem to bloom offshore and scatter toward the shore, and wonders whether the wind becomes spring for the waters. The place name "Karasaki" is hidden in "oki kara sakite" in the second line. It is a poem of double likening: the white-breaking waves are seen as flowers, and the wind that makes them bloom is seen as the spring of the waters. It shares the preceding poem's title and echoes the idea of 457 in this book, where the drops of the waves are seen as flowers.
The poet, "Ise," was a daughter of Fujiwara no Tsugukage. She served Empress Onshi, consort of Emperor Uda, and is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line "Nami no hana" likens the white-breaking waves to flowers.
Second line "oki kara sakite" means "blooming from the offing," and "kara saki" hides the place name "Karasaki."
Third line "chirikumeri" uses "meri," an auxiliary of inference from what is seen, meaning "they seem to come scattering." The poem pauses here.
Fourth line "mizu no haru to wa" means "as for the spring of the waters," seeing the surface where wave-flowers bloom as spring.
Fifth line "kaze ya naru ramu" uses the interrogative particle "ya" and closes in the attributive "ramu," wondering whether the wind becomes that spring.
Author: Ise
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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