Sugashima ya tōshi no koishi wakekaete kuroshiro maze yo ura no hamakaze

菅島や答志の小石分け換へて
黒白混ぜよ浦の浜風

Roma-ji: Sugashima ya tōshi no koishi wakekaete kuroshiro maze yo ura no hamakaze
English Translation: O Sugashima,
and the pebbles of Tōshi—
part them, trade them round,
mix the black and white together,
you sea breeze upon the shore!
Meaning: Swap the pebbles of Sugashima and Tōshi, O shore wind of the bay, and mix the black and the white together!
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 1382

Headnote: "On the island called Tōshi in Ise there is a beach of nothing but white pebbles, without a single black one mixed in, and facing it the island called Sugashima has nothing but black ones"
The island of Tōshi in Ise has a beach of only white pebbles, while Sugashima opposite has only black ones. Swap the pebbles of Sugashima and Tōshi, the poet calls to the shore wind, and mix the black and white together.
It wittily commands the shore wind to mix the rare sight of an all-white beach facing an all-black one. Four poems under the same headnote form a series on the white and black pebbles.

First line, “Sugashima ya”: ya is exclamatory, setting forth Sugashima of the black pebbles.
Second line, “tōshi no koishi”: the pebbles of Tōshi, white.
Third line, “wakekaete”: taking and exchanging them.
Fourth line, “kuroshiro maze yo”: mix black and white, an imperative.
Fifth line, “ura no hamakaze”: an address to the shore wind, ending on a noun.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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