時つ風吹かまく知らず吾児の海の
朝明の潮に玉藻刈りてな
朝明の潮に玉藻刈りてな
- Roma-ji
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Tokitsukaze fukamaku shirazu ago no umi no asake no shio ni tamamo karite na
- English Translation
-
The tide-time wind
none can tell when it will blow—
on Ago's sea,
while the dawn tide still is low,
let us cut the jewel-weed
- Meaning
- No one knows when the tide wind will rise—let us cut the lovely seaweed now on the sea of Ago, in the tide of early dawn.
- Commentary
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Book Seven Miscellaneous Poems 1157
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Composed in Settsu"
Since no one knows when the wind that comes with the turning tide will blow, the poet urges cutting the lovely seaweed on the sea of Ago in the dawn tide. One senses both the practical wisdom of seaside life and the pleasure of gathering beautiful seaweed.
As a poem on the sea of Ago it corresponds to poem 1154 in this book, and in singing of the dawn sea it also connects with poem 1155. The poet is unknown.
The first line, "tokitsukaze," means the wind that blows regularly at the turn of the tide.
In the second line, "-maku" is the nominalized form of the conjectural "mu": "no one knows that it will blow." The poem pauses here.
The third line names the sea of Ago at Suminoe, the same place as in poem 1154; the line has an extra syllable.
The fourth line, "while the dawn tide still is low," uses "asake," the same word as in poem 1155.
In the final line, "te na" is the perfective "tsu" with the volitional "na": "let us cut it now."
- Source
- Manyoshu
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Suminoe no tōsatoono no mahari mochi sureru koromo no sakari sugiyuku
- Next Poem
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Suminoe no okitsu shiranami kaze fukeba kiyosuru hama o mireba kiyoshi mo