わが髮のゆきといそべのしら浪と
いづれまされりおきつ島もり
いづれまされりおきつ島もり
- Roma-ji
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Waga kami no yuki to isobe no shiranami to izure masareri okitsu shimamori
- English Translation
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My hair white as snow,
and the white waves on the shore—
which is whiter, tell,
which of the two surpasses,
O guardian of the isle?
- Meaning
- The snow of my hair, or the white waves breaking on the shore—which is the whiter? Tell me, guardian of the offshore isle.
- Commentary
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30 The Twenty-First Day of the First Month: Fear of Pirates and White Hair
On the twenty-first day of the first month, the party set sail around the hour of the hare. Everyone else's boats set out at the same time; it looked as though autumn leaves had scattered over a spring sea. Perhaps thanks to their earnest prayers, no wind blew, and they rowed on in fine weather. A boy who had followed them hoping to be taken into service sang a boat song, looking back toward his home province and thinking of his parents, and it was moving to hear. Birds called black birds had gathered on a rock, and white waves were breaking at its foot. The steersman said, "White waves break at the foot of the black birds," and though the words were nothing special, they sounded like something clever.
"The one who was master of the boat" refers to the owner of the boat, the former Governor of Tosa whose term had ended, that is, Ki no Tsurayuki.
Looking at the waves, the master of the boat recalled the rumor, current since they were still in Tosa, that pirates meant to take revenge; and the sea itself was frightening besides, so that his hair had turned completely white. Seventy or eighty years of age, the diary says, are to be found at sea. It was amid such thoughts that this poem was composed.
After the poem come the words "kajitori ie," calling on the steersman to answer. Fears of pirates continue to be recorded after this: on the twenty-third day of the first month they pray to the gods and buddhas because of the danger of pirates, and on the twenty-sixth they set out in the middle of the night because of a rumor that pirates are pursuing them.
The first line, "Waga kami no," means "of my hair." The second line, "yuki to isobe no," likens the whiteness of the hair to snow and continues "of the shore." The third line, "shiranami to," "and the white waves," sets white hair beside white waves.
The fourth line, "izure masareri," means "which surpasses?" The final line, "okitsu shimamori," is an address, "O guardian of the offshore isle," ending on a noun.
The poem compares the speaker's hair, turned white with fear of pirates and the terrors of the sea, with the white waves breaking on the shore, and asks the island guardian which is whiter. It expresses the lament of old age with exaggeration and humor, and the following "kajitori ie" adds the further amusement of turning the question toward the steersman.
- Author
- Ki no Tsurayuki
- Source
- Tosa Nikki
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