島隠れ荒磯に通ふ葦鶴の
ふみおく跡は波も消たなん
ふみおく跡は波も消たなん
- Roma-ji
-
Shimagakure ariso ni kayou ashitazu no fumioku ato wa nami mo ketanan
- English Translation
-
Hidden by the isle,
the reed crane that comes and goes
to the rocky shore—
the prints it treads and leaves,
may the waves wash them away
- Meaning
- The reed crane that, hidden behind the island, comes and goes along the rough shore—may the waves wash away the prints it leaves behind, the traces of my letter.
- Commentary
-
Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems III 1212
Headnote: "When he found that he had unwittingly dropped a letter he was sending to a woman with whom he was very secretly intimate, he sent this."
The poet hopes the waves will wash away the prints left by the reed crane that visits the rough shore hidden behind the island. Likening a secret love to a crane in an island's shade and joining "fumi," treading, and "fumi," letter, he wishes that no trace of the dropped letter remain for others to see.
According to the headnote, he had unwittingly dropped a letter meant for a woman with whom he was secretly intimate, and on finding this out, sent this poem.
The poet is anonymous and the name is not known. The text gives the poet as "yomibito mo," but it is treated here as anonymous.
The first line, "Shimagakure," means "hidden behind the island," a figure for a love kept from others' eyes.
The second line, "ariso ni kayou," means "coming and going to the rough shore."
The third line, "ashitazu no," means "of the crane among the reeds."
The fourth line, "fumioku ato wa," is a pivot word on "fumi," treading and letter: the prints the crane leaves, and the traces of a written letter.
The last line, "nami mo ketanan," means "may the waves wash them away," with "nan" a particle of request. "Rough shore" and "waves" are associated words.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
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Tsuki mo sezu uki koto no ha no ōkaru o hayaku arashi no kaze mo fukanamu
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