Korizuma no ura no shiranami tachiidete yoru hodo mo naku kaeru bakari ka - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

こりずまの浦の白浪立ち出でて
よるほどもなくかへるばかりか

Roma-ji: Korizuma no ura no shiranami tachiidete yoru hodo mo naku kaeru bakari ka
English Translation: Unchastened, again,
like Suma Bay's white breakers
you rise and come forth,
but with hardly a night's stay
do you only turn back home
Meaning: Undeterred, you set out again like the white waves rising on Suma Bay, yet like waves that draw back before they can reach the shore, do you only go home without staying even a night?
Commentary: Book Twelve Love Poems IV 800

Headnote: "To a man who seemed fickle."
The poet asks whether he only comes out unchastened like the white waves of Suma Bay and goes back before even reaching the shore. Comparing a fickle man's visits to waves that ebb as soon as they come in, she reproaches his faithlessness in never staying the night.
According to the headnote, the poem was sent to a man who seemed fickle. 865 in this book also sings of "korizuma no ura," but from the side of a man who longs undeterred, so the two make a pair of the reproaching woman and the incorrigible man.
The poet is listed as anonymous, and the composer's name has not come down to us.

The first line, "Korizuma no," joins "korizu," undeterred, with the place name Suma, meaning "unchastened, once again."
The second line, "ura no shiranami," the white waves of the bay at Suma, stands for the man's visits.
The third line, "tachiidete," layers the rising of the waves with the man setting out.
The fourth line, "yoru hodo mo naku," joins "yoru," to draw near, with "yoru," night, meaning "without staying even a night."
The last line, "kaeru bakari ka," means "do you only go home," joining the ebbing of waves with the man's return, with "ka" a question tinged with feeling. Like "kaerugaeru" in the preceding poem, 799, it overlaps ebbing waves with a departing man.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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