Itazura ni tachikaerinishi shiranami no nagori ni sode no hiru toki mo nashi - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

いたづらに立ち帰りにし白浪の
なごりに袖の干る時もなし

Roma-ji: Itazura ni tachikaerinishi shiranami no nagori ni sode no hiru toki mo nashi
English Translation: In vain I turned back
like the white waves that recede,
and in their wake,
the sleeves I wear are never
given time to dry again
Meaning: Like white waves that come in vain and turn back, I went home empty-handed, and in the lingering wake of it my sleeves never have a moment to dry.
Commentary: Book Twelve Love Poems IV 884

Headnote: "When he came to Taifu's house and she was not there, he went home and sent this the next morning."
The poet says that in the wake of white waves that turned back in vain, his sleeves have no time to dry. Comparing his futile visit, finding her away, to white waves that come and go, he protests that ever since, his sleeves have stayed wet with tears.
According to the headnote, he came to Taifu's house but she was not there, so he went home and sent this poem the next morning. The next poem, 885, is Taifu's reply, and the two form an exchange.
The poet, listed as "Asatada Ason," was Fujiwara no Asatada. A son of Fujiwara no Sadakata, the Sanjō Minister of the Right, he rose to Middle Counselor. One of the Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals, his "au koto no taete shi naku wa nakanaka ni" is included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.

The first line, "Itazura ni," means "in vain."
The second line, "tachikaerinishi," means "that turned back," layering the ebbing waves with his own return home.
The third line, "shiranami no," means "of the white waves." The next poem, 885, replies by placing "shiranami no" in its third line.
The fourth line, "nagori ni sode no," means "in the wake, my sleeves," with "nagori" joining the water left after waves recede and the "lingering trace" of feeling.
The last line, "hiru toki mo nashi," means "never have time to dry," expressing sleeves kept wet by tears.
Author: Fujiwara no Asatada
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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