Ikarii no ishi o kukumite kamikoshi wa kisa no ki ni koso otorazarikere - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

いかりゐの石をくくみてかみこしは
きさのきにこそ劣らざりけれ

Roma-ji: Ikarii no ishi o kukumite kamikoshi wa kisa no ki ni koso otorazarikere
English Translation: The angry boar's tusks
that came gnawing at me
with a stone in its mouth—
why, to an elephant's tusks
they are in no way inferior.
Meaning: The tusks of the angry boar that came biting with a stone in its mouth are, it seems, no less than the tusks of an elephant.
Commentary: Book Seven Names of Things 390

Headnote: "Kisa no ki (kisa tree)"
The poem is understood to say that the tusks of an angry boar that came biting with a stone in its mouth are no less than the tusks of an elephant. Within the jest of comparing a fierce boar's tusks with an elephant's, the name "kisa no ki" given in the headnote is worked into "kisa no ki" in the fourth line, turned to mean an elephant's tusk. The headnote names the thing hidden in the poem.
The author, written as Sukemi, is Fujiwara no Sukemi. A son of Fujiwara no Hirotsune, he was a mid-Heian poet known as Tōroku. He excelled at poems hiding the names of things, and his personal collection is the Tōrokushū.

First line, "ikarii no," is understood to mean "of the angry boar."
Second line, "ishi o kukumite," means "holding a stone in its mouth."
Third line, "kamikoshi wa," is understood to mean "that which came biting."
Fourth line, "kisa no ki ni koso," means "even to an elephant's tusk," with "kisa" the old name for the elephant and "ki" a tusk. The topic "kisa no ki" is worked in with this meaning. 423 of this book also hides the name "kisa no ki."
Final line, "otorazarikere," means "are no less," with "koso" resolved by the perfective "kere." It is the same final line as 377 of this book.
Author: Fujiwara no Sukemi
Source: Shui Wakashu
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