浮き沈み果ては泡とぞなりぬべき
瀬々の岩波身も砕きつつ
瀬々の岩波身も砕きつつ
- Roma-ji
-
Ukishizumi hate wa awa to zo narinubeki seze no iwanami mi mo kudakitsutsu
- English Translation
-
Rising and sinking,
at last into mere foam
I must surely turn,
like the waves on the rocks of each rapid,
breaking myself apart.
- Meaning
- Rising and sinking, I will surely turn to foam at last, like the waves breaking on the rocks of each rapid, shattering myself again and again.
- Commentary
-
Love Poems 446
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Among poems on love"
Like waves breaking on the rocks at every rapid, the poet rises and sinks, shattering body and soul, and will surely vanish at last like foam. The violence of love's suffering is entrusted to the waves of a torrent.
Line 1 means "rising and sinking," tossed by love's suffering.
Line 2 means "at last into foam," zo being a binding particle.
Line 3 means "I must surely become," concluding zo in the attributive form; the line has an extra syllable, and the poem pauses here.
Line 4 names the waves breaking on the rocks of each rapid, moving from the shore rock of the preceding poem to the rocks of a river.
Line 5 means "breaking myself the while," overlaying breaking waves and a heart broken.
- Author
- Minamoto no Sanetomo
- Source
- Kinkaishu
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Yamakawa no seze no iwanami wakikaeri onore hitori ya mi o kudakuramu