Ariso umi no ura to tanomeshi nagorinami uchiyosetekeru wasuregai kana - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

有磯海のうらと頼めしなごり波
うち寄せてける忘れ貝かな

Roma-ji: Ariso umi no ura to tanomeshi nagorinami uchiyosetekeru wasuregai kana
English Translation: The lingering waves
of Ariso's bay, which made me
trust you from the heart,
what they carried to the shore
was only the shell of forgetting.
Meaning: The lingering waves of one who made me trust from the depths of my heart, as deep as the bay of Ariso, have washed ashore nothing but the shell of forgetting.
Commentary: Book Fifteen Love Poems V 979

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
The poem says that what the lingering waves brought ashore, waves of one who made me trust them from the heart like the bay of Ariso Sea, was the shell of forgetting. Entrusting it to the things of the shore, it laments that a lover who once made one trust from the heart left behind only forgetfulness as a keepsake.

First line, "Ariso umi no," means "of Ariso Sea," a poetic place in Etchū Province, an irregular line of six syllables.
Second line, "ura to tanomeshi," means "that made me trust from the heart," with "ura" a pivot word joining "ura," a bay, and "ura," the heart. "Tanome" conjugates in the lower bigrade and means "to make one trust."
Third line, "nagorinami," means "the waves that linger after the wind has dropped," echoing also the traces left after the lover is gone.
Fourth line, "uchiyosetekeru," means "has washed ashore."
Final line, "wasuregai kana," means "it was the shell of forgetting," a shell said to make one forget the pain of love when picked up. It shares the word "wasuru," to forget, with "wasurezu" in 951 and "na o wasuretsutsu" in 986 of this book.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
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