海人小舟帆かも張れると見るまでに
鞆の浦廻に波立てり見ゆ
鞆の浦廻に波立てり見ゆ
- Roma-ji
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Ama obune ho kamo hareru to miru made ni tomo no uramini nami tateri miyu
- English Translation
-
A fisher's small boat
raising its sail, can it be?
So it looks to me—
along the bay of Tomo
I see the waves are rising
- Meaning
- So white are the waves rising along the bay of Tomo that they look like fishing boats raising their sails.
- Commentary
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Book Seven Miscellaneous Poems 1182
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Composed on Journeys"
The white waves rising in the bay of Tomo look so much like the sails of fishing boats that the poet takes them for sails. Likening white breakers to white sails, it is a landscape poem full of the brightness and movement of the sea.
It is one of the poems composed on journeys; Tomo Bay is a harbor in Bingo, present-day Tomonoura in Fukuyama, Hiroshima Prefecture. The next poem also sings of Tomo Bay, and the two form a pair. The poet is unknown.
The first line, "A fisher's small boat," refers to a little fishing boat.
In the second line, "raising its sail, can it be?" "kamo" expresses doubt; the line has an extra syllable.
The third line, "So it looks to me," means "so much that one mistakes them."
The fourth line, "along the bay of Tomo," corresponds to the last line of the next poem, "this bay of Tomo's shore."
The final line, "I see the waves are rising," is the same as the last line of poem 1178 in this book.
- Source
- Manyoshu
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Asagasumi yamazu tanabiku tatsutayama funade semu hi wa are koimu kamo
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Masakikute mata kaerimimu masurao no te ni maki moteru tomo no urami o