住吉のきしもせざらんものゆゑに
ねたくや人にまつと言はれむ
ねたくや人にまつと言はれむ
- Roma-ji
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Sumiyoshi no kishi mo sezaran mono yue ni netaku ya hito ni matsu to iwaremu
- English Translation
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Though one will not come,
like the shore of Sumiyoshi,
how galling it is,
that people will say I wait
like the pine of Sumiyoshi.
- Meaning
- Though that one will never come, like the shore of Sumiyoshi, how galling it would be if people said I wait, like the pines of Sumiyoshi.
- Commentary
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Book Ten Kagura Songs 587
The poem says how galling it is to be said to wait, like the pine of Sumiyoshi, for one who will never come. Pivoting on "kishi," the "shore" of Sumiyoshi and "came," and "matsu," "pine" and "wait," it uses the landscape of the Sumiyoshi shore to express the vexation of waiting for one who does not come.
The main text has no headnote, and in the headnote field is a note saying, "Someone says this is an oracle of the god of Sumiyoshi," recording that it is handed down as the god's revelation. No author is given either.
The next poems, 589 and 590, both end with "Sumiyoshi no matsu," continuing with poems on the god and pines of Sumiyoshi.
First line, "Sumiyoshi no," means "of Sumiyoshi" in Settsu Province, the site of the Sumiyoshi Shrine.
Second line, "kishi mo sezaran," is a pivot word: "kishi" means the "shore" of Sumiyoshi and "came." "Zara" is the negative auxiliary "zu" and "n" conjectural, meaning "will not even come."
Third line, "mono yue ni," means "even though," expressing concession.
Fourth line, "netaku ya hito ni," means "galling it is, by people," with the binding particle "ya" resolved by "mu" in the final line.
Final line, "matsu to iwaremu," is a pivot word: "matsu" means the "pine" of Sumiyoshi and "wait." It leads into the final lines of the next poems, 589 and 590, "Sumiyoshi no matsu."
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
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Yūdasuki kakuru tamoto wa wazurawashi yutake ni tokete aramu to o shire