Naniwagata shio michikurashi amagoromo tamino no shima ni tazu nakiwataru - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

難波潟潮満ち来らし海人衣
たみのの島に鶴鳴き渡る

Roma-ji: Naniwagata shio michikurashi amagoromo tamino no shima ni tazu nakiwataru
English Translation: At Naniwa Bay
the tide seems to be rising:
fisher's rain-cape—
toward the isle of Tamino
the cranes fly calling past.
Meaning: The tide seems to be flowing into Naniwa Bay: calling, the cranes fly across toward the isle of Tamino.
Commentary: Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems I 913

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
From cranes flying and calling toward the isle of Tamino over Naniwa Bay, the poet infers that the tide is rising. The broad scene of the tidal flats filling and the cries of the cranes merge in this descriptive poem. The author is unknown.
It inherits a descriptive pattern of rising tides and calling cranes seen in poems by Yamabe no Akahito and others in the Man'yōshū.

First line "naniwagata" is the tidal flat of Naniwa in Settsu. Poem 916 in this book begins with the same line.
Second line "shio michikurashi" uses rashi, inference with grounds, guessing from the cranes that the tide is rising; the poem pauses here.
Third line "amagoromo" is the fisherman's garment, calling to mind a straw rain-cape and leading like a pillow word to tamino.
Fourth line "tamino no shima ni" is a pivot word joining the place name Tamino in Naniwa and mino, a rain-cape. Poem 918 in this book also sings of the isle of Tamino, and the two answer each other.
Fifth line "tazu nakiwataru" gives the scene that grounds the inference, closing with cranes' cries echoing over the wide flats.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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