Akete dani nani ni ka wa mimu mizunoe no urashima no ko o omoiyaritsutsu - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

開けてだに何にかは見む水の江の
浦島の子を思ひやりつつ

Roma-ji: Akete dani nani ni ka wa mimu mizunoe no urashima no ko o omoiyaritsutsu
English Translation: Even if I opened it,
what would there be to see,
thinking all the while
of Urashima's child
of the Bay of Mizunoe
Meaning: Even if it were opened, what would there be to see? I keep thinking all the while of the child of Urashima from the Bay of Mizunoe.
Commentary: Book Fifteen Miscellaneous Poems I 1104

Headnote: "When Prince Motonaga was visiting me, he tied up with an undersash a box that held some trifle or other, saying he would open it when he next came, set it on top of something and left. Afterward I was hidden away by Prince Tsuneakira, and long months and days passed; when I returned to my old house, I sent this box to Prince Motonaga with this poem."
The poet asks what there would be to see even if the box were opened, as she keeps thinking of the child of Urashima from Mizunoe. Drawing on the legend of Urashima, who grew old in an instant on opening the jeweled box, she overlays herself, back after long months, with the box left unopened, and conveys the weight of the time that has passed.
According to the headnote, when Prince Motonaga was visiting her, he tied up a box holding some trifle with an undersash, saying he would open it when he next came, and left it; afterward she was spirited away by Prince Tsuneakira and spent a long time with him, and on returning to her old house she sent the box to Prince Motonaga with this poem. Prince Motonaga was a son of Emperor Yōzei, and Prince Tsuneakira a son of Emperor Daigo.
The poet, Nakatsukasa, was a daughter of Prince Atsuyoshi, son of Emperor Uda, and the poet Ise. Named after her father's post as Minister of Central Affairs, she is counted among the Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals.

The first line, "Akete dani," means "even if it were opened," with "dani" meaning "even."
The second line, "nani ni ka wa mimu," means "what would there be to see," with "ka wa" rhetorical and closed by the attributive "mu." The poem pauses here.
The third line, "mizunoe no," means "of Mizunoe" in Tango, said to be Urashima's home.
The fourth line, "urashima no ko o," means "the child of Urashima," drawing on the legend of the man who grew old on opening the jeweled box.
The last line, "omoiyaritsutsu," means "thinking of him all the while," with "tsutsu" continuation. After the pause at the second line, it adds her feeling in inverted order.
Author: Nakatsukasa
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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