Naniwazu wa kurame ni nomi zo fune wa tsuku ashita no kaze no sadame nakereba - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

難波つはくらめにのみぞ舟は着く
朝の風の定めなければ

Roma-ji: Naniwazu wa kurame ni nomi zo fune wa tsuku ashita no kaze no sadame nakereba
English Translation: At Naniwa Bay
only when it has grown dark
do the boats come in,
for the winds of the morning
are never to be relied on.
Meaning: At Naniwa harbor the boats come in only after dark, for the morning wind is never settled.
Commentary: Book Seven Names of Things 406

Headnote: "Tsubakurame (swallow)"
The poem is understood to say that at Naniwa harbor the boats come in only after dark, because the morning wind is unsettled. Singing of boats delayed while waiting for the wind, it hides the name of the swallow given in the headnote in the run of sounds "tsu wa kurame" from the first to the second line. 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, "naniwazu wa," means "the harbor of Naniwa." Its final "tsu wa" with "kurame" in the second line hides the name "tsubakurame."
Second line, "kurame ni nomi zo," is understood to mean "only once it is dark." Following the preceding poem, the name of a bird is sung of.
Third line, "fune wa tsuku," means "the boats arrive," with "zo" resolved by the attributive "tsuku." The poem pauses here.
Fourth line, "ashita no kaze no," means "the morning wind," "kurame" (dark) in the second line and "ashita" (morning) forming a pair.
Final line, "sadame nakereba," means "since it is not settled," giving by inversion the reason for the third line.
Author: Fujiwara no Sukemi
Source: Shui Wakashu
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