風吹けば藻塩の煙かたよりに
なびくを人の心ともがな
なびくを人の心ともがな
- Roma-ji
-
Kaze fukeba moshio no keburi katayori ni nabiku o hito no kokoro tomo gana
- English Translation
-
When the wind blows by,
the smoke of the salt fires
bends all to one side —
if only your heart would bend
that way toward me as well
- Meaning
- When the wind blows, the smoke of burning seaweed for salt bends all one way; if only your heart would bend toward me like that.
- Commentary
-
Book Seven Love Poems I 228
The poet wishes the beloved's heart would bend wholly toward him, like the smoke of the salt fires that leans all one way in the wind. A seaside scene of salt-making is overlaid on the wish of love.
The first line, "kaze fukeba" (when the wind blows), is a conditional of certainty.
The second line, "moshio no keburi," refers to the smoke that rises when seaweed soaked in seawater is burned to make salt. It continues the poems of smoke in this book, such as 188 and 213, here making smoke that bends as wished a figure of longing.
The third line, "katayori ni" (to one side), means leaning all in one direction.
The fourth line, "nabiku o hito no," overlays smoke bending with a heart yielding.
The final line, "kokoro tomo gana," ends with the wishful "mo gana": if only it were so.
- Author
- Fujiwara no Chikataka
- Source
- Shika Wakashu
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