あり衣辺につきて漕がさね杏人の
浜を過ぐれば恋しくありなり
浜を過ぐれば恋しくありなり
- Roma-ji
-
Ariso e ni tsukite kogasa ne karahito no hama o sugureba kōshiku ari nari
- English Translation
-
Close along the rocks,
hug the shore, I pray, and row;
Karahito's
beach, once we have passed it by,
I will long for it, I know.
- Meaning
- Please row close along the rocky shore. Once we pass the beach of Karahito, I think I will miss it terribly.
- Commentary
-
Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems 1689
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Two poems composed at the Naki River"
The speaker asks the rowers to keep close to the rocky shore, since once they pass the beach of Karahito he will long for it. Reluctance to leave a lovely beach takes the form of a request to the oarsmen.
It is counted as the second of two poems at the Naki River, but because it describes a seashore some think it does not fit that setting. The location of Karahito Beach is unknown.
The author, Kakinomoto no Hitomaro, was a court poet active in the reigns of Jitō and Monmu. This poem is taken from the Hitomaro Collection, which is thought to contain both Hitomaro's own poems and poems by others that he gathered.
The first line, "close along the rocks," writes ariso, "rough shore," with the character for "robe."
The second line, "hug the shore, I pray, and row," uses the honorific sa and the requesting particle ne, and the poem pauses here.
The third line, "Karahito's," is the name of the beach.
The fourth line, "beach, once we have passed it by," states the condition.
The final line, "I will long for it, I know," uses nari to infer, and runs to eight syllables, one beyond the norm.
- Author
- Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
- Source
- Manyoshu
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