Itsushika to akete mitareba hamachidori ato aru koto ni ato no naki kana - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

いつしかと開けて見たれば浜千鳥
跡あることに跡のなきかな

Roma-ji: Itsushika to akete mitareba hamachidori ato aru koto ni ato no naki kana
English Translation: Eager to see it,
I opened it to look, but
like the plovers' shore,
where there should be tracks of writing,
of tracks there is not a sign.
Meaning: Eager to see, I opened it and looked, but where there should have been tracks like those of plovers on the shore, that is, writing, there are no tracks at all.
Commentary: Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems II 553

Headnote: "When Saneyori's grandson Sanesuke, later Major Captain of the Right, was still a boy and went to play go at the house of Naishi no Uma, on seeing that a blank booklet had been set as the wager"
The poet says that, eager to see it, he opened the booklet, but where there should be plover tracks, that is, writing, there were no tracks at all. The headnote shows it was composed when Sanesuke, still a child, went to play go at the house of Naishi no Uma, and a blank booklet was set as the wager. Drawing on the tradition of likening plover tracks to written characters, it playfully likens the blank booklet to a shore with no plover tracks. Together with Sanesuke's reply in the next poem, 554, it forms an exchange, and following the preceding poem, 552, it is a poem connected with go.
The author, the Ono no Miya Chancellor, is Fujiwara no Saneyori. The eldest son of Fujiwara no Tadahira, he rose to Regent and Chancellor and is regarded as the founder of the Ono no Miya line. He adopted his grandson Sanesuke as his son.

First line, "itsushika to," means "eager to see it," expressing impatience.
Second line, "akete mitareba," means "when I opened it and looked," speaking of opening the booklet.
Third line, "hamachidori," means "plovers on the shore," whose tracks call to mind handwriting. It shares the scene of the shore with the fourth line of the preceding poem, 552, "hama no masago no," and the same word with the third line of the next poem, 554, "hamachidori."
Fourth line, "ato aru koto ni," means "where there should be tracks," speaking of writing likened to plover tracks.
Final line, "ato no naki kana," means "there are no tracks," set against "ato aru" in the fourth line, with "kana" exclamatory.
Author: Fujiwara no Saneyori
Source: Shui Wakashu
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