岸もなく潮し満ちなば松山を
下にて波は越さむとぞ思ふ
下にて波は越さむとぞ思ふ
- Roma-ji
-
Kishi mo naku shio shi michinaba matsuyama o shita nite nami wa kosamu to zo omou
- English Translation
-
If the tide should rise
until there were no shore,
then over the Pine Hill,
leaving it beneath,
the waves would cross, I think
- Meaning
- If the tide were to rise until no shore remained, then, I think, the waves would pass over the Pine Hill, leaving it far below.
- Commentary
-
Book Eleven Love Poems III 760
Headnote: "Reply."
In this reply the poet says that if the tide rose until there was no shore, the waves would cross the Pine Hill, leaving it below. It is understood as answering his question with the strength of a feeling hidden within: if love overflows, it may cross even the Pine Hill.
It is the reply to the preceding poem, 759, taking up the poems on the Pine Hill of Sue that began with 755 in this book.
The poet, Ise, was a daughter of Fujiwara no Tsugukage, Governor of Ise, and served Onshi, consort of Emperor Uda. One of the Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals, her "naniwagata mijikaki ashi no fushi no ma mo" is included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.
The first line, "Kishi mo naku," means "until no shore remains."
The second line, "shio shi michinaba," means "if the tide should rise," with "shi" an emphatic particle.
The third line, "matsuyama o," means "the Pine Hill of Sue," taking up "nado ka matsuyama" in the second line of the preceding poem.
The fourth line, "shita nite nami wa," means "the waves, leaving it below," "shita" layering the foot of the hill with the depths of the heart.
The last line, "kosamu to zo omou," means "would cross, I think," taking up "nami kosamu" in the third line of the preceding poem. "Zo" is an emphatic particle closing on the attributive "omou," a kakarimusubi pattern.
- Author
- Ise
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Ajikinaku nado ka matsuyama nami kosamu koto oba sara ni omoihanaruru
- Next Poem
-
Yo to tomo ni nageki koritsumu mi ni shi areba nazo yamamori no aru kai mo naki