Mitsu shio ni sueba o arau nagareashi no kimi o zo omou ukimi shizumimi - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

満つ潮に末葉を洗ふ流れ葦の
君をぞ思ふうきみしづみみ

Roma-ji: Mitsu shio ni sueba o arau nagareashi no kimi o zo omou ukimi shizumimi
English Translation: In the rising tide,
its leaf tips washed by the waves,
like the drifting reed
it is you I think of,
now floating, now sinking
Meaning: Like a drifting reed whose leaf tips are washed by the rising tide, it is you I think of, my wretched self now floating, now sinking.
Commentary: Book Thirteen Love Poems III 792

Headnote: "Sent when, in the reign of Emperor Horikawa, the courtiers were made to compose love letters and send them to ladies who composed poetry, and Major Counselor Kinzane had sent his to the mother of Prince Yasusuke, who, hearing that he had also sent one to Suō no Naishi, sent him a jealous poem"
In the reign of Emperor Horikawa, the courtiers were made to compose love-letter poems and send them to ladies who composed poetry; Kinzane sent his to the mother of Prince Yasusuke, but she, hearing that he had also sent one to Suō no Naishi, sent him a jealous poem, and this is his reply. Like the drifting reeds whose leaf tips are washed by the rising tide, he says, I think of you, now floating, now sinking. He overlays his own heart, tossed by love, on reeds rising and falling with the tide, and soothes her jealousy by saying it is she and no other he thinks of.
The author, "Major Counselor Kinzane," is Fujiwara no Kinzane. The son of Provisional Major Counselor Fujiwara no Sanesue, he was a maternal uncle of Emperor Horikawa and rose to Provisional Major Counselor. "The mother of Prince Yasusuke" in the headnote was a lady poet also called Haku no Haha or Shijōnomiya no Chikuzen, and "Suō no Naishi," daughter of Taira no Munenaka, served as a palace attendant from Emperor Go-Reizei to Emperor Horikawa. The event was the Horikawa Palace Love-Letter Contest of the fourth year of Kōwa (1102).

First line, "mitsu shio ni": "in the rising tide."
Second line, "sueba o arau": "sueba" are the tips of leaves, washed by the tide.
Third line, "nagareashi no": drifting reeds, a line of six syllables, one beyond the norm. The lines up to here work as a preface leading to "ukimi shizumimi" in the last line.
Fourth line, "kimi o zo omou": "zo" is emphatic and binds with the attributive "omou," "it is you I think of," no other, soothing her jealousy. The poem pauses here.
Fifth line, "ukimi shizumimi": "mi" is a suffix of repeated action, "now floating, now sinking." "Ukimi" pivots with "uki mi," "my wretched self."
Author: Fujiwara no Kinzane
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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