Amabito no iso shite kaeru hijikimono wa konishi hamaguri kōna shitadami

海人人の磯して帰るひじきものは
小螺蛤寄居虫細螺

Roma-ji: Amabito no iso shite kaeru hijikimono wa konishi hamaguri kōna shitadami
English Translation: What the fisher folk
bring home from the rocky shore
as their gathered spoil:
little whelks and clams as well,
hermit crabs and periwinkles.
Meaning: What the fisherfolk bring home from the rocky shore: little whelks, clams, hermit crabs, and periwinkles.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 1380

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
What the fisherfolk bring back from the rocky shore are little whelks, clams, hermit crabs, and periwinkles, the poet says.
It is an unusual poem whose lower lines list the names of small sea creatures one after another, vividly conveying the fishermen's life through the concrete products of the shore. Hijikimono in the third line is hard to construe and is taken here as the things gathered on the shore.

First line, “amabito no”: of the fisherfolk.
Second line, “iso shite kaeru”: returning from working the rocky shore.
Third line, “hijikimono wa”: hard to construe, taken as the things gathered there; the line has an extra syllable.
Fourth line, “konishi hamaguri”: little whelks and clams.
Fifth line, “kōna shitadami”: hermit crabs and periwinkles, ending the list on nouns.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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