Nami no tatsu kokoro no mizu o shizumetsutsu sakan hachisu o ima wa matsu kana

波の立つ心の水をしづめつつ
咲かん蓮を今は待つかな

Roma-ji: Nami no tatsu kokoro no mizu o shizumetsutsu sakan hachisu o ima wa matsu kana
English Translation: Calming as I go
the water of my heart
where the waves would rise,
now I simply wait for
the lotus soon to bloom.
Meaning: Stilling the waters of my heart, where the waves would rise, I now simply wait for the lotus that is to bloom.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 1237

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Reply"
The third of the lady's replies. Stilling the waters of the heart where waves rise in turmoil, she now simply waits for the lotus that is to bloom.
Taking up the lotus pond of the preceding poem, it expresses a state of calming the heart to await rebirth in paradise. Through the Buddhist image of a lotus blooming when the troubled waters of the heart are stilled, it conveys the emperor finding peace and awaiting the next life.

First line, “nami no tatsu”: where waves rise, the heart's turmoil.
Second line, “kokoro no mizu o”: the heart likened to water.
Third line, “shizumetsutsu”: calming it.
Fourth line, “sakan hachisu o”: the lotus that will bloom, a symbol of rebirth in paradise.
Fifth line, “ima wa matsu kana”: "now I simply wait"; kana is exclamatory.
Source: Sankashu
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