杣川の筏の床の浮き枕
夏は涼しきふしとなりけり
夏は涼しきふしとなりけり
- Roma-ji
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Somagawa no ikada no toko no ukimakura natsu wa suzushiki fushi to narikeri
- English Translation
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On the timber stream
the raft becomes a bed,
a pillow floating—
in summer, I find, it makes
a cool place to lie down.
- Meaning
- On the timber river, the bed upon the raft with its floating pillow turns out, in summer, to be a cool place to lie.
- Commentary
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Book Two Summer Poems 76
The poem describes the bed of a raftsman, who binds logs together and floats them down the river. Sleeping on the water is usually a hardship, but in summer it becomes a cool bed. The discovery reflects Yoshitada's fondness for drawing on everyday working life.
Following the coolness of the riverbank in poem 75, this poem sings of the coolness on the river itself. The scene moves from the bank to the water's surface, and two poems on seeking the cool stand together.
First line names a timber river flowing from mountains where logs are cut.
Second line shows the raft itself serving as a bed.
Third line, "floating pillow," conveys the unsteadiness of sleep on a journey. The poem pauses here.
Fourth line uses wa to single out summer against the other seasons.
Fifth line plays on fushi, meaning both "a place to lie down" and a "knot" in timber. Keri expresses realization.
- Author
- Sone no Yoshitada
- Source
- Shika Wakashu
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