Suminoe no kishi no matsu fuku akikaze o tanomete nami no yoru o machikeru

住吉の岸の松吹く秋風を
頼めて波のよるを待ちける

Roma-ji: Suminoe no kishi no matsu fuku akikaze o tanomete nami no yoru o machikeru
English Translation: At Suminoe
where the pines along the shore
are blown by autumn wind,
trusting it, the waves have waited
for the night when they might come.
Meaning: Trusting in the autumn wind that blows through the pines on the shore of Suminoe, the waves have waited for the night to come rolling in.
Commentary: Autumn Poems 269

Headnote: "Composed when many people composed on the theme 'The white waves offshore add their voices'"
This poem was composed by the poet when many people composed on the theme "The white waves offshore add their voices." He imagines that the white waves offshore have waited for night to roll up to the shore, trusting in the autumn wind blowing through the pines of Suminoe, and portrays an autumn night at Suminoe where pine wind and wave sound join their voices.
The theme is the lower half of Ōshikōchi no Mitsune's Kokin Wakashū poem in which, as the autumn wind blows through the pines of Suminoe, the white waves offshore add their voices. The Ruijū text places this poem in the miscellaneous section and writes line 1 as Suminoe no. Kamo no Mabuchi commented that even when written "Sumiyoshi," line 1 should be read Suminoe. In the source text consulted, line 1 is missing; based on Mabuchi's comment and the Ruijū text it has been taken as written "Sumiyoshi" and read Suminoe.

Line 1 names Suminoe, the shore of Sumiyoshi in Settsu, read Suminoe; it is the same place as Suminoe in the foundation poem of the theme.
Line 2 means "blowing through the pines on the shore," the pines of Sumiyoshi being long famous.
Line 3 presents the autumn wind on which the waves rely.
Line 4 means "relying on it," personifying the waves.
Line 5: yoru is a pivot word meaning both the waves' "approaching" the shore and "night." Keru, in the attributive form, carries a note of realization, ending "so the waves had been waiting for night."
Author: Minamoto no Sanetomo
Source: Kinkaishu
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