Yosuru nami uchi mo yosenamu waga kouru hito wasuregai orite hirowamu - Tosa Nikki(English Translation & Meaning)

よする浪うちも寄せなむわが戀ふる
人わすれ貝おりてひろはむ

Roma-ji: Yosuru nami uchi mo yosenamu waga kouru hito wasuregai orite hirowamu
English Translation: O you breaking waves,
cast up on the shore for me
the shell that makes one
forget the one I long for—
I'd go down and gather it
Meaning: O breaking waves, wash ashore for me the shell that makes one forget the one I long for, and I will go down and gather it.
Commentary: 43 The Fourth Day of the Second Month: The Shells of Forgetting

On the fourth day of the second month, the steersman declared that the look of the wind and clouds was very bad that day, so the boat did not sail. Yet all day long neither waves nor wind arose. The diarist writes that this steersman was a fool who could not even read the weather. On the beach of this anchorage there were many lovely shells and stones of every kind. And so the people on the boat could think of nothing but longing for the one who was gone.
The one who was gone was the former governor's daughter, who had died in Tosa. "Wasuregai," the shell of forgetting, was a shell said to make one forget one's longing if one picked it up.
Seeing the lovely shells and stones on the beach and longing for the lost child, someone on the boat composed this poem.
Hearing it, a certain person, unable to bear it, replied with "Wasuregai hiroishi mo seji shiratama o kouru o dani mo katami to omowamu."

The first line, "Yosuru nami," is an address: O waves that come breaking in. In the second line, "uchi mo yosenamu," "namu" is a particle expressing a wish directed at another: please wash it ashore.
The third and fourth lines, "waga kouru hito wasuregai," mean "the shell of forgetting, which makes one forget the one I long for," with "hito wasure" (forgetting the person) overlapping "wasuregai" (shell of forgetting). In the final line, "orite hirowamu," "mu" is an auxiliary of intention: I will go down to the beach and gather it.
The poem entrusts to the shell of forgetting the wish to escape the pain of longing for a lost child. Behind the plea that the waves bring such a shell, one senses a grief so great it cannot be forgotten.
Author: Ki no Tsurayuki
Source: Tosa Nikki
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