Mame naredo adana wa tachinu tawarejima yoru shiranami o nureginu ni kite - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

まめなれどあだ名は立ちぬたはれ島
よる白浪を濡れ衣に着て

Roma-ji: Mame naredo adana wa tachinu tawarejima yoru shiranami o nureginu ni kite
English Translation: I am true, and yet
a name for fickleness has risen—
at Tawarejima
the white waves that come by night
I wear as a dampened robe
Meaning: Though I am faithful, a name for fickleness has risen against me; I wear the white waves that break by night at Tawarejima, the Isle of Dalliance, as a robe soaked with false blame.
Commentary: Book Fifteen Miscellaneous Poems I 1120

Headnote: "When a woman said I was fickle."
The poet says that though he is faithful, a name for fickleness has risen against him, as he wears the white waves breaking at Tawarejima as a soaked robe. Letting "Tawarejima" suggest dalliance and "nureginu," a wet robe, suggest false blame, he protests the injustice of being called fickle by a woman through the scenery of the shore.
According to the headnote, it was composed when a woman told him he was fickle.
The poet, "Lord Asatsuna," is Ōe no Asatsuna. A grandson of Ōe no Otondo, he rose to Consultant. Gifted in Chinese poetry and prose, he was called the Later Ōe Consultant to distinguish him from his grandfather.

The first line, "Mame naredo," means "though I am true," with "mame" meaning sincere and "do" adversative.
The second line, "adana wa tachinu," means "a name for fickleness has risen," with "adana" a rumor of faithlessness. The poem pauses here.
The third line, "tawarejima," is Tawarejima, a famed place in Higo, with "taware" meaning to dally.
The fourth line, "yoru shiranami o," means "the white waves that come," with "yoru" joining the waves' approaching and night, and answering "tachi," rising, in the second line as a word related to waves.
The last line, "nureginu ni kite," means "wearing as a wet robe," joining a robe soaked by waves with "nureginu," false blame.
Author: Ōe no Asatsuna
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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