Shika no ama no tsuri ni tomoseru isaribi no honoka ni hito o miru yoshi mo gana - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

志賀の海人の釣りにともせる漁り火の
ほのかに人を見るよしもがな

Roma-ji: Shika no ama no tsuri ni tomoseru isaribi no honoka ni hito o miru yoshi mo gana
English Translation: Like the fishing fires
the fisherfolk of Shika
kindle for their catch,
if only there were some way
to glimpse you, however faint.
Meaning: Like the fishing fires the fishermen of Shika light for their night fishing, if only there were some way to glimpse you, however faintly.
Commentary: Book Fifteen Love Poems V 968

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
The poem says: like the fishing fires the fishermen of Shika kindle for their night fishing, if only there were some way to see that person, however faintly. It lays over the fishing fires glimmering faintly far off on the night sea an aching wish to see the beloved, if only a little.
The author, "Sakanoue no Iratsume", is Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue, daughter of Ōtomo no Yasumaro and half-sister of Ōtomo no Tabito. A leading woman poet of the Man'yōshū, she was the aunt of Ōtomo no Yakamochi and also became his mother-in-law when her daughter, Sakanoue no Ōiratsume, married him.
A similar poem appears in Book Twelve of the Man'yōshū, with the final line "mimu yoshi mo gamo."

First line, "Shika no ama no," means "of the fishermen of Shika," an irregular line of six syllables. Shika is Shikanoshima in Chikuzen Province, sung of as a home of fisherfolk.
Second line, "tsuri ni tomoseru," means "kindled for fishing."
Third line, "isaribi no," means "of the fires lit on boats at night to draw the fish." The first three lines form an introductory phrase that, from fires glimmering faintly far off, leads to "honoka ni," faintly, in the fourth line.
Fourth line, "honoka ni hito o," means "that person, if only faintly." It shares the word with the first line of 976 in this book, "honoka ni mo."
Final line, "miru yoshi mo gana," means "if only there were a way to see," with "mo gana" a final particle of wish. Taking up "miraku sukunaku" in the preceding poem, 967, it carries the grief of rare meetings forward into a wish at least to see.
Author: Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue
Source: Shui Wakashu
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