白浪のよるよる岸に立ち寄りて
ねも見しものをすみよしの松
ねも見しものをすみよしの松
- Roma-ji
-
Shiranami no yoruyoru kishi ni tachiyorite ne mo mishi mono o Sumiyoshi no matsu
- English Translation
-
Like the white waves
that draw near the shore each night,
I came close to you
and saw its roots, lay with you—
the pine of Sumiyoshi
- Meaning
- Like the white waves drawing near the shore night after night, I came to you and even lay with you, seeing the very roots of the pine of Sumiyoshi.
- Commentary
-
Book Nine Love Poems I 599
Headnote: "When a woman would not meet him."
The poet says that like the white waves drawing near the shore night after night, he came to her and even lay with her, as if seeing the very roots of the pine of Sumiyoshi. To a woman who will no longer meet him, he appeals that he once came every night and was close enough to see the roots of the Sumiyoshi pine.
According to the headnote, he composed it because the woman would not meet him. 561 in this book also sings of the white waves that draw near the shore of Sumiyoshi night after night, using the same scene.
The poet is listed as "anonymous," and the composer's name has not come down to us.
The first line, "Shiranami no," means "like the white waves."
In the second line, "yoruyoru" is a pivot word meaning both waves "drawing near again and again" and "night after night." It is the same word as the third line of 561 in this book.
The third line, "tachiyorite," means "drawing near," with "yori" an associated word with the waves.
In the fourth line, "ne" is a pivot word meaning both "sleeping together" and the "roots" of the pine: "though I even lay with you."
In the last line, "Sumiyoshi" is a pivot word joining Sumiyoshi and "sumi yoshi," good to live in. The poem closes with a noun, in inverted order with the fourth line.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Utsutsu ni mo hakanaki koto no ayashiki wa ne naku ni yume no miyuru narikeri
- Next Poem
-
Nagaraete aranu made ni mo koto no ha no fukaki wa ika ni aware narikeri