Waka no ura ni shio michikureba kata o nami ashibe o sashite tazu nakiwataru

若の浦に潮満ち来れば潟をなみ
葦辺をさして鶴鳴き渡る

Roma-ji: Waka no ura ni shio michikureba kata o nami ashibe o sashite tazu nakiwataru
English Translation: Into Waka Bay
when the tide comes flowing in,
with the flats all gone,
toward the reedy shore
the cranes fly crying overhead
Meaning: When the tide comes flowing into Waka Bay and the tidal flats are gone, the cranes fly crying across the sky toward the reed-covered shore.
Commentary: Book Six Miscellaneous Poems 919

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Two envoys"
This poem describes how, when the tide comes flowing into Waka Bay and the tidal flats disappear, the cranes fly off crying toward the reed-grown shore. A landscape poem that captures both the movement of the rising tide and the crying flock of cranes, through sight and sound alike, it is widely known as one of Akahito's masterpieces.
The long poem immediately before (917) is titled "A poem composed by Yamabe no Sukune Akahito when the Emperor made a progress to the province of Kii on the fifth day of the tenth month of winter in the first year of Jinki," and was written while accompanying the newly enthroned Emperor Shōmu on his progress to Kii in the tenth month of Jinki 1 (724). The long poem praises Tamatsushima, the island in the offing seen from Saikano, as a place revered since the age of the gods. Tamatsushima lies in what is now Wakaura in Wakayama City, and was then a small island in the sea.
Waka Bay is present-day Wakaura in Wakayama City. According to the Shoku Nihongi, Emperor Shōmu renamed Wakahama as Akanoura on this progress, which suggests how highly the scenery of the place was admired.
The left note reads: "The above did not record the year and month, but was said to have been composed while accompanying the progress to Tamatsushima. Therefore the year and month of the progress have now been ascertained and noted, and the poems are recorded here." This shows that the original source gave no date and said only that the poems were composed on the progress to Tamatsushima, so the compiler looked up the date of the progress and entered it in the headnote.
The poet, Yamabe no Akahito, was a court poet of the early Nara period who accompanied imperial progresses, chiefly in the reign of Emperor Shōmu, and left many poems. His rank and career are unknown, but he excelled in lucid poems of landscape, and the Japanese preface to the Kokin Wakashū names him alongside Kakinomoto no Hitomaro.

Following the preceding poem, 918, which imagined the seaweed hidden "when the ebbing tide flows in," this poem depicts cranes amid "the tide flowing in," so the two envoys portray different moments of the rising tide. They also form a pair of stillness and motion, the preceding poem dwelling on the silent seaweed and this one on the crying cranes in flight.
The first line, "Into Waka Bay," names Waka Bay in the province of Kii, present-day Wakaura, and sets the stage of the poem.
The second line, "when the tide comes flowing in," is a definite condition formed by "-ba" on the realis form. It takes up "when the ebbing tide flows in" of the preceding poem and marks the passing of time.
The third line, "with the flats all gone," means "since there are no tidal flats," using the "-mi" construction "(noun) o (adjective stem) -mi" to express cause. It gives the reason the cranes move away.
The fourth line, "toward the reedy shore," means heading for the bank where the reeds grow, showing the direction of the cranes' flight and giving breadth to the scene.
The final line, "the cranes fly crying overhead," means the cranes pass over crying as they go. Reading "crane" with the poetic word "tazu," it portrays both the call and the flight at once, closing the poem on a vivid scene.
Author: Yamabe no Akahito
Source: Manyoshu
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