Kobae tsudou numa no irie no mo no shita wa hito tsukeokane fushi ni zo arikeru

小鮠集ふ沼の入江の藻の下は
人漬けおかねふしにぞありける

Roma-ji: Kobae tsudou numa no irie no mo no shita wa hito tsukeokane fushi ni zo arikeru
English Translation: Beneath the waterweeds
in the inlet of the marsh
where the minnows throng,
a brush trap set by no one's hand
was waiting there all along.
Meaning: Beneath the waterweeds in the marsh inlet where the little minnows gather, there was a brushwood trap that no one had set.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 1392

Headnote: none
Beneath the waterweeds in the marsh inlet where little minnows gather, there was, it turns out, a brushwood trap no one had laid, the poet says.
Fushizuke was a fishing method of sinking bundles of brushwood to catch the fish that gathered in them. The fish gathering in the weeds are seen as a natural brush trap made by no human hand. Like the preceding poem, it belongs to a series on river and marsh fishing. The text's fourth line reads "hito tsukeokane," not matching the reading line's "hito tsukeokanu"; the text is followed but construed as "not set."

First line, “kobae tsudou”: where little minnows gather; the line has an extra syllable.
Second line, “numa no irie no”: of the marsh inlet.
Third line, “mo no shita wa”: beneath the waterweeds.
Fourth line, “hito tsukeokane”: following the text, construed as "not set by anyone."
Fifth line, “fushi ni zo arikeru”: fushi is a sunken brush trap; zo is answered by the attributive keru.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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