Akikaze ni suzuki tsuribune hashiru meri sono hitohashi no nagori shitaite

秋風に鱸釣り舟走るめり
そのひとはしの名残慕ひて

Roma-ji: Akikaze ni suzuki tsuribune hashiru meri sono hitohashi no nagori shitaite
English Translation: In the autumn wind,
the boats for sea bass fishing
seem to race away—
yearning for a lingering trace,
for some fragment that remains.
Meaning: In the autumn wind the boats fishing for sea bass seem to race along, longing after some last trace of what remains.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 1396

Headnote: none
In the autumn wind the sea-bass fishing boats seem to race along, longing after some lingering trace, the poet says.
It depicts autumn fishing boats running before the wind. Hitohashi in the lower lines is hard to construe and the meaning is unsettled; it is read here as boats racing after the last traces of departing autumn. Suzuki, "sea bass," may also echo susuki, autumn pampas grass.

First line, “akikaze ni”: in the autumn wind.
Second line, “suzuki tsuribune”: boats fishing for sea bass, echoing pampas grass.
Third line, “hashiru meri”: meri infers from sight, "they seem to race"; the poem breaks here.
Fourth line, “sono hitohashi no”: hard to construe, taken as "of that small remnant."
Fifth line, “nagori shitaite”: longing for what lingers, the inversion giving the reason for their racing.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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