住吉の細江に差せるみをつくし
深きに負けぬ人はあらじな
深きに負けぬ人はあらじな
- Roma-ji
-
Sumiyoshi no hosoe ni saseru miotsukushi fukaki ni makenu hito wa araji na
- English Translation
-
Like the channel stakes
set up in the narrow inlet
of Sumiyoshi,
who could ever hold their own
against a love so deep
- Meaning
- Like the channel markers set in the narrow inlet at Sumiyoshi, giving all oneself — surely there is no one who would not yield to love so deep.
- Commentary
-
Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems I 322
Overlaying the channel markers standing in the deep water of Sumiyoshi's narrow inlet with the depth of a love that consumes the self, the poet says no one could hold out against such depth of feeling. Playing "miotsukushi" (channel marker) against "mi o tsukushi" (giving one's all), she likens a heart sinking into love's depths to the depth of a waterway.
Poem 329 of this book also sings of Sumiyoshi, depicting pines bathed in its waves.
The first line, "Sumiyoshi no," names a poetic place in Settsu Province.
The second line, "hosoe ni saseru," uses the attributive of the continuative "ri" for markers set in the narrow inlet.
The third line, "miotsukushi," is a pivot word joining the channel marker with "mi o tsukushi" (giving one's all).
The fourth line, "fukaki ni makenu," overlays not yielding to the water's depth with not yielding to deep feeling.
The final line, "hito wa araji na," combines the negative conjectural "ji" and emphatic "na": there can be no such person.
- Author
- Sagami
- Source
- Shika Wakashu
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