暁の夢に見えつつ梶島の
磯越す波のしきてし思ほゆ
磯越す波のしきてし思ほゆ
- Roma-ji
-
Akatoki no ime ni mietsutsu kajishima no iso kosu nami no shikite shi omōyu
- English Translation
-
In the dreams of dawn
you appear to me again and again;
like Kajishima's
waves that break across the rocks,
ceaselessly you fill my thoughts.
- Meaning
- You come to me again and again in my dreams at dawn, and like the waves that keep breaking over the rocks of Kajishima, you are ceaselessly in my thoughts.
- Commentary
-
Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems 1729
Headnote: "Three poems by Lord Umakai"
The beloved appears again and again in dreams before dawn, and like the waves breaking endlessly over the rocks of Kajishima, fills the speaker's thoughts. The one he longs for is not named, but it is read as a traveler thinking of his wife at home. The third and fourth lines form a preface leading to shikite, "ceaselessly."
This is the first of three poems by Lord Umakai. The location of Kajishima is unknown.
The author, Fujiwara no Umakai, was the third son of Fujiwara no Fuhito and founder of the Shiki branch of the Fujiwara. He went to Tang China as vice-envoy and later served as governor of Hitachi and as military commissioner of the Saikaidō.
The first line, "in the dreams of dawn," refers to the dark hours before daybreak.
The second line, "you appear to me again and again," uses tsutsu to express repetition.
The third line, "like Kajishima's," names the island where the waves break.
The fourth line, "waves that break across the rocks," together with the third forms a preface leading to shikite through the image of waves breaking over and over.
The final line, "ceaselessly you fill my thoughts," uses the emphatic shi, and omōyu means "comes naturally to mind."
- Author
- Fujiwara no Umakai
- Source
- Manyoshu
- Prev Poem
-
Nagusamete koyoi wa nenamu asu yori wa koi kamo yukamu koyu wakarenaba
- Next Poem
-
Yamashina no iwata no ono no hahasohara mitsutsu ka kimi ga yamaji koyuramu