Au koto no nagisa ni shi yoru nami nareba uramite nomi zo tachikaerikeru - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

逢ふことのなぎさにし寄る波なれば
うらみてのみぞ立ち帰りける

Roma-ji: Au koto no nagisa ni shi yoru nami nareba uramite nomi zo tachikaerikeru
English Translation: Since I am a wave
that breaks upon a shore
where no meeting comes,
I only gaze upon the bay, resenting,
and then turn back again
Meaning: I am a wave washing onto a shore where no meeting comes, so, like a wave that only glimpses the bay, I turn back full of resentment.
Commentary: Book Thirteen Love Poems III 626

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
The poet likens himself, returning without a meeting, to a wave that comes to the shore, only glimpses the bay, and turns back. With nagisa punning on "none" and "shore," and urami on "seeing the bay" and "resenting," the ebb and flow of the wave is overlaid with the sadness of love that must turn back unmet.
The author, recorded as Ariwara no Motokata, was a son of Ariwara no Muneyana and a grandson of Ariwara no Narihira. He is said to have been adopted by Fujiwara no Kunitsune.
Opening with "meeting" and likening unmet love to waves, this conceit continues in the next poem, and poem 673 in this book likewise begins with "meeting" and links love to the flow of a river.

The first line, "au koto no," means "of meeting," and leads into the "none" hidden in nagisa.
The second line, "nagisa ni shi yoru," uses nagisa as a pivot word for "there is none" and "shore," overlaying the absence of meeting with the shore where waves come in; the particle shi adds emphasis.
The third line, "nami nareba," likens the self to a wave and gives the reason: "since I am a wave."
The fourth line, "uramite nomi zo," uses urami as a pivot word for "seeing the bay" and "resenting," and stresses it with zo. "Shore," "come in," "wave," "bay," and "turn back" are associated words.
The final line, "tachikaerikeru," overlays the wave's retreat with the lover's going home, closing the zo construction with keru, the attributive of keri.
Author: Ariwara no Motokata
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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