松山の波に流れて来し舟の
やがてむなしくなりにけるかな
やがてむなしくなりにけるかな
- Roma-ji
-
Matsuyama no nami ni nagarete koshi fune no yagate munashiku narinikeru kana
- English Translation
-
The boat that came drifting,
carried on the waves that wash
the shore at Matsuyama—
in the end, so suddenly,
it has come to emptiness.
- Meaning
- Like a boat carried here on the waves of Matsuyama that soon drifted empty, our lord has passed away in this place.
- Commentary
-
Miscellaneous Poems 1353
Headnote: "Visiting Sanuki, I sought at a place called the port of Matsuyama the traces of where the retired emperor had stayed, but there was nothing left"
Visiting Sanuki, Saigyō sought at the port of Matsuyama the traces of Retired Emperor Sutoku's stay, but found nothing. Like a boat carried here on the waves that soon became empty, the emperor passed away here, he laments.
Sutoku died in Sanuki eight years after his exile, and Saigyō later visited Sanuki in longing for him. Likening the emperor to a boat swept along by the waves, munashiku joins a boat becoming empty with his death. Poems concerning Sutoku in Sanuki follow.
First line, “matsuyama no”: of Matsuyama in Sanuki, where the emperor first arrived.
Second line, “nami ni nagarete”: swept along by the waves, his exile.
Third line, “koshi fune no”: of the boat that came, figuring the emperor.
Fourth line, “yagate munashiku”: munashi joins a boat becoming empty with his passing.
Fifth line, “narinikeru kana”: nikeru kana marks completion and exclamation, "it has become so."
- Author
- Saigyō
- Source
- Sankashu
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Yoshi saraba hikari naku to mo tama to iite kotoba no chiri wa kimi migakanan
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Matsuyama no nami no keshiki wa kawaraji o katanaku kimi wa narimashinikeri