Nami shinogu koto o mo nani ka wazurawan kimi ni au beki michi to omowaba

波しのぐことをも何か煩はん
君に逢ふべき道と思はば

Roma-ji: Nami shinogu koto o mo nani ka wazurawan kimi ni au beki michi to omowaba
English Translation: Breasting the high waves,
why should I find any of it
hard to undergo,
if I think it is the road
that will lead to meeting you?
Meaning: Why would I mind the hardship of pushing through the waves, if I think of it as the road that leads me to you?
Commentary: Love Poems 611

Headnote: "Love on a sea voyage"
The topic is love on a sea voyage. The hardship of crossing the sea against rough waves would be no trouble at all, the poet says, if he thought of it as the road to meeting the one he loves. The difficulty of the sea route serves to show the single-mindedness of love.

First line, “nami shinogu”: shinogu is to push through, to endure and overcome; this answers the sea route of the topic.
Second line, “koto o mo nani ka”: nani ka is rhetorical and binds with n in the third line.
Third line, “wazurawan”: wazurau is to find troublesome: why would I mind it? I would not. The poem breaks after the third line.
Fourth line, “kimi ni au beki”: by which I could meet you.
Fifth line, “michi to omowaba”: michi is the sea route: if I think of it as the road to you, returning in inversion to the upper verse.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
Prev Poem: Omoikane ichi no naka ni wa hito ōmi yukari tazunete tsukuru tamazusa
Next Poem: Iwashiro no matsukaze kikeba mono omou hito mo kokoro zo musubōrekeru