Tamakushige hako no uranami tatanu hi wa umi o kagami to tare ka mizaramu - Tosa Nikki(English Translation & Meaning)

玉くしげ箱のうらなみたゝぬ日は
海をかゞみとたれか見ざらむ

Roma-ji: Tamakushige hako no uranami tatanu hi wa umi o kagami to tare ka mizaramu
English Translation: On days when the waves
in Box Bay, the jewel-box,
do not rise at all,
who would not see the whole sea
as a mirror, smooth and bright?
Meaning: On days when no waves rise in Hako Bay—the bay of the jewel box—who would not see the sea as a mirror?
Commentary: 40 The First Day of the Second Month: Hako Bay and the Towropes

On the first day of the second month, rain fell in the morning but stopped around noon, so the party set out from a place called Izumi-no-nada and rowed on. As on the previous day, neither wind nor waves could be seen on the sea. Passing the pine grove of Kurosaki, they found the place name black, the pines green, the waves on the shore white as snow, and the shells the dark red of sappanwood—one color short of the five colors. That day the boat was pulled along by towropes from a place called Hako-no-ura.
Those who compose poems this day are "a certain person" and "the master of the boat." "The master of the boat" refers to its owner, the former Governor of Tosa whose term had ended, Ki no Tsurayuki.
As the boat was towed along from Hako-no-ura, a certain person looked at the calm sea and composed this poem.
Then the master of the boat, lamenting that the journey had dragged on into this month and unable to bear the hardship, composed "Hiku fune no tsunade no nagaki haru no hi o yosoka ika made ware wa henikeri."

The first line, "Tamakushige," is a pillow word for "hako" (box); "kushige" is a box for combs and the like. The second line, "hako no uranami," refers to the place name Hako-no-ura and the waves of that bay. The third line, "tatanu hi wa," means "on days when the waves do not rise."
The fourth line, "umi o kagami to," means "the sea as a mirror," and the final line, "tare ka mizaramu," closes rhetorically: who would not see it so? Everyone surely would. "Ka" is a rhetorical particle and "mu" an auxiliary of conjecture.
The poem uses the pillow word "tamakushige" to lead into "hako," linking it by association with the mirror kept in such a box. Seeing the calm, waveless surface of the sea as a mirror, it is a witty poem that makes the most of the place name Hako-no-ura.
Author: Ki no Tsurayuki
Source: Tosa Nikki
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