Toshi hetaru ura no amabito koto towan nami o kazukite ikuyo suginiki

年経たる浦の海人人言問はん
波を潜きて幾世過ぎにき

Roma-ji: Toshi hetaru ura no amabito koto towan nami o kazukite ikuyo suginiki
English Translation: I would ask of you,
fisherman of this old bay
so worn with the years—
diving down beneath the waves,
how many ages have you passed?
Meaning: Let me ask you, old fisherman of this bay: how many ages have you passed diving beneath the waves?
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 1397

Headnote: "Going from Shingū toward Ise, at Mikishima I called over a fisherman managing the boats who had not a single black hair"
On his way from Shingū in Kumano toward Ise, Saigyō called over a white-haired old fisherman managing the boats at Mikishima. Let me ask the old fisherman of this bay how many ages he has passed diving beneath the waves, he says.
It is a question full of respect and interest toward an old fisherman who has spent his life at sea. With 1398 it forms a pair on the same old man.

First line, “toshi hetaru”: grown old with the years.
Second line, “ura no amabito”: the fisherman of the bay.
Third line, “koto towan”: n is volitional, "let me ask"; the poem breaks here.
Fourth line, “nami o kazukite”: diving beneath the waves.
Fifth line, “ikuyo suginiki”: how many ages have passed, what he would ask.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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