Isoburi no yosuru iso ni wa toshitsuki o itsu tomo wakanu yuki nomi zo furu - Tosa Nikki(English Translation & Meaning)

いそぶりの寄する磯には年月を
いつとも分かぬ雪のみぞふる

Roma-ji: Isoburi no yosuru iso ni wa toshitsuki o itsu tomo wakanu yuki nomi zo furu
English Translation: On the rocky shore
where the pounding breakers come,
with no thought of when,
heedless of the months and years,
snow alone keeps on falling
Meaning: On the rocky shore where the breakers pound, snow alone keeps falling, heedless of the passing months and years.
Commentary: 27 The Eighteenth Day of the First Month: Waves Seen as Snow and Blossoms

On the eighteenth day of the first month the party still remained in the same place. The sea was rough, so the boat did not set out. This anchorage was charming whether seen from far or near, but the hardship of the journey left no room for any thought. The men, it seems, recited Chinese verse to lift their spirits. Passing the time idly without sailing, people composed one poem after another on the waves.
Those who compose poems this day are "a certain person," "someone," and "the old man who was master of the boat." The last means the old man who headed the boat, and is read as referring to the former governor, the head of the party.
Unable to sail and passing the time idly, a certain person watched the rough waves pounding the shore and composed this poem.
The diarist remarks that the poem seems to be the work of someone who does not usually compose. Then another person went on to compose "Kaze ni yoru nami no iso ni wa uguisu mo haru mo e shiranu hana nomi zo saku."

The first line, "Isoburi no," means "of the waves that crash violently against the shore," continuing into the second, "yosuru iso ni wa." The third and fourth lines, "toshitsuki o itsu tomo wakanu," mean "without distinguishing season or year"; "waka" is the irrealis form of the verb "waku," to distinguish, and "nu" the attributive form of the negative auxiliary "zu."
In the final line, "yuki nomi zo furu," "nomi" limits and "zo" emphasizes, closing with the attributive form "furu" in a kakari-musubi construction. The white waves shattering on the shore are seen as snow that falls regardless of season.
The idea of seeing white waves as snow echoes "Shimo dani mo okanu kata zo to iu naredo nami no naka ni wa yuki zo furikeru" on the sixteenth day of the first month. The narration judges this poem to be like the work of someone who does not usually compose.
Author: Ki no Tsurayuki
Source: Tosa Nikki
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