Setoguchi ni takeru ushio no ōyodomi yodomu toshihi mo naki namida kana

瀬戸口にたける潮の大淀み
淀む年日もなき涙かな

Roma-ji: Setoguchi ni takeru ushio no ōyodomi yodomu toshihi mo naki namida kana
English Translation: At the strait's mouth where
the tide surges wild, there comes
a great slackening,
but no year or day of slack
for these tears of mine, alas!
Meaning: Even the tide that rages at the mouth of the strait has its slack, yet my tears flow on with no year or day when they slacken.
Commentary: Love Poems 694

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Love"
Even the tide that rages through a narrow strait has times when its flow grows slack. The poet is taken to say that his tears, however, flow on with no year or day when they slacken. The image of the tide in the upper verse leads into the word yodomu, to slacken, contrasting the rest that comes even to a fierce current with tears of love that never pause.

First line, “setoguchi ni”: seto is a strait where the sea narrows between lands: at its mouth.
Second line, “takeru ushio no”: takeru is to rage, to surge wildly.
Third line, “ōyodomi”: taken to mean the tide growing greatly slack; the first three lines lead into yodomu in the fourth.
Fourth line, “yodomu toshihi mo”: neither year nor day when they slacken, repeating the word of the third line.
Fifth line, “naki namida kana”: kana is exclamatory, lamenting tears that flow on without slackening.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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