我が袖は名に立つ末の松山か
空より浪の越えぬ日はなし
空より浪の越えぬ日はなし
- Roma-ji
-
Waga sode wa na ni tatsu Sue no Matsuyama ka sora yori nami no koenu hi wa nashi
- English Translation
-
Are my sleeves, then,
the famous Pine Hill of Sue?
There is never a day
that waves from out of the sky
do not pass over them
- Meaning
- Are my sleeves the famed Pine Hill of Sue? Not a day goes by that waves do not come down from the sky and pass over them.
- Commentary
-
Book Ten Love Poems II 683
Headnote: "Sent to a man."
The poet asks whether her sleeves are the famous Pine Hill of Sue, for not a day passes without waves coming from the sky over them. Waves crossing the Pine Hill of Sue were a figure for faithlessness, and she pleads that because of his change of heart her tears overflow her sleeves each day.
According to the headnote, it was sent to a man. It draws on the Eastern Song of the Kokin Wakashū, "kimi o okite adashi kokoro o waga motaba Sue no Matsuyama nami mo koenamu."
The poet, Tosa, was a woman known by that name, thought to be a lady-in-waiting's sobriquet. Few details of her life have come down to us.
The first line, "Waga sode wa," means "my sleeves."
The second line, "na ni tatsu Sue no," means "the famed Sue."
The third line, "Matsuyama ka," means "are they the Pine Hill?" a poetic place in Michinoku, and the poem pauses here.
The fourth line, "sora yori nami no," means "waves from the sky," referring to ceaselessly falling tears.
The last line, "koenu hi wa nashi," means "not a day without their crossing," drawing on the figure of waves crossing the Pine Hill of Sue as faithlessness.
- Author
- Tosa
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
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