Kienu beki nori no hikari no tomoshibi o kakaguru Wada no tomari narikeri

消えぬべき法の光の灯火を
かかぐる和田の泊りなりけり

Roma-ji: Kienu beki nori no hikari no tomoshibi o kakaguru Wada no tomari narikeri
English Translation: The lamps of the light
of the Buddhist Law that would
soon have flickered out,
here they raise them high, at Wada,
at its harbor by the sea.
Meaning: Here at the harbor of Wada, they hold aloft the lamps of the light of the Law that would otherwise go out.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 862

Headnote: "The Lay Priest Chancellor of Rokuhara gathered a thousand sutra-bearers and held a service at a place called Wada in Tsu province, and on that occasion held a festival of ten thousand lamps; as the night deepened and the lamps went out, I watched each person relighting them"
Taira no Kiyomori, the Lay Priest Chancellor of Rokuhara, gathered a thousand monks devoted to the Lotus Sutra and held a service at Wada in Settsu, and on that occasion held a festival of ten thousand lamps. As the night deepened and the lamps went out, people relit them one by one, and seeing this the poet composed this. Here at the harbor of Wada they raise high the light of the Law that would fade in these latter days, he says, praising the service.

First line, “kienu beki”: that would go out, taking up the dying lamps of the headnote and suggesting the Law's decline in the latter days.
Second line, “nori no hikari no”: of the light of the Buddhist Law.
Third line, “tomoshibi o”: the lamps of the festival.
Fourth line, “kakaguru Wada no”: kakagu is to trim a wick or hold high; Wada is the harbor in Settsu, the Ōwada anchorage Kiyomori developed.
Fifth line, “tomari narikeri”: tomari is a harbor; narikeri closes with a sigh.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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