Sada no ura ni yosuru shiranami aida naku omou o nani ka imo ni aikataki

佐太の浦に寄する白波間なく
思ふを何か妹に逢ひかたき

Roma-ji: Sada no ura ni yosuru shiranami aida naku omou o nani ka imo ni aikataki
English Translation: Like the white waves
breaking on the shore of Sada,
without a pause
I think of you, so why
is it so hard to meet
Meaning: I think of you without a pause, like the white waves breaking on Sada Bay; so why is it so hard to meet you?
Commentary: Book Twelve Expressing Thoughts through Things 3029

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Thoughts through Things"
Using the white waves breaking endlessly on Sada Bay as an introduction, the poet laments that, though thinking of the beloved constantly, they cannot meet. The ceaseless waves impress on us the ceaselessness of longing.
The poet is unknown. Book Twelve, titled the second part of "Love Poems Exchanged Old and New," gathers love poems by people whose names have not come down to us, arranged by category.

Line one, "Sada no ura ni," is a place name whose location is debated, a hypermetric line of six syllables. The same place appears in poem 3160 in this book.
Line two, "yosuru shiranami," means "the white waves breaking," and the lines up to here form an introduction leading to "aida naku," without pause.
Line three, "aida naku," means "without pause."
Line four, "omou o nani ka," means "though I think of you, why," with "ka" a question concluded by the attributive "kataki" in line five.
Line five, "imo ni aikataki," means "is it hard to meet her," the same final line as poem 2856 in this book.
Author: Unknown
Source: Manyoshu
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