Mikumano no hamayū ouru ura sabite hito naminami ni toshi zo kasanaru

み熊野の浜木綿生ふる浦さびて
人なみなみに年ぞ重なる

Roma-ji: Mikumano no hamayū ouru ura sabite hito naminami ni toshi zo kasanaru
English Translation: Kumano's bay, where
the spider lilies grow, has
grown lonely and old,
and like others, wave on wave,
the years pile up on me.
Meaning: The bay of Kumano where the spider lilies grow has gone desolate, and like everyone else, wave on wave, my years pile up.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 1023

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
The bay of Kumano where the spider lilies grow has gone desolate, and like everyone else, as waves come in again and again, my years pile up, the poet says, laying his own aging over the loneliness of the Kumano shore.
The poem draws on Kakinomoto no Hitomaro's 'Mikumano no / ura no hamayū / momoe nasu / kokoro wa omoedo / tada ni awanu kamo,' turning the hundredfold layering of the lily's leaves into the piling up of years.

First line, “Mikumano no”: of Kumano in Kii; mi is an honorific prefix.
Second line, “hamayū ouru”: hamayū is a shore plant whose leaves lie layer on layer.
Third line, “ura sabite”: the bay grown desolate.
Fourth line, “hito naminami ni”: naminami is a pivot word joining like others and the waves on the bay.
Fifth line, “toshi zo kasanaru”: zo is answered by the attributive kasanaru; the years pile up, answering Hitomaro's 'momoe nasu.'
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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