越の海の手結が浦を旅にして
見れば羨しみ大和偲ひつ
見れば羨しみ大和偲ひつ
- Roma-ji
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Koshi no umi no Tayui ga ura o tabi ni shite mireba tomoshimi Yamato shinoitsu
- English Translation
-
Of the sea of Koshi,
the bay of Tayui here,
while on my travels
I gaze on, and so charmed am I,
I long for Yamato.
- Meaning
- Seeing the bay of Tayui on the sea of Koshi as I travel, I am so drawn to it that I find myself longing for Yamato.
- Commentary
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Book Three Miscellaneous Poems 367
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "A poem with tanka composed by Kasa no Ason Kanamura when he boarded a ship at the port of Tsunoga" — "Envoy"
This is the envoy to a long poem composed on setting sail from the port of Tsunoga in Echizen. Charmed by the beautiful bay of Tayui on the sea of Koshi, yet traveling with no one to share the view, he finds himself longing all the more for Yamato. It well expresses a feeling common in travel poems: that beauty itself stirs homesickness. The bay of Tayui is near Tai in present-day Tsuruga, Fukui.
The poet, Kasa no Kanamura, was a court poet of the reign of Shōmu who composed many long and short poems while accompanying royal excursions.
First line "Of the sea of Koshi": Koshi is the old name for the Hokuriku region; the line has one syllable too many.
Second line "the bay of Tayui here": a bay in Echizen facing Tsuruga Bay.
Third line "while on my travels" means being on a journey.
Fourth line "I gaze on, and so charmed am I": tomoshi means drawn to, and mi gives the cause.
Fifth line "I long for Yamato": shinou means to yearn, and tsu is perfective, ending in homesickness.
- Author
- Kasa no Kanamura
- Source
- Manyoshu
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