わたつ海の中に向かひていづる湯の
いづのお山とうべも言ひけり
いづのお山とうべも言ひけり
- Roma-ji
-
Watatsumi no naka ni mukaite izuru yu no Izu no oyama to ube mo iikeri
- English Translation
-
Into the wide sea
turning, the hot spring gushes
and so flows out—
"Izu," the mountain that pours forth:
well indeed they named it so.
- Meaning
- Since hot water springs out facing the open sea, it is well indeed that they call it Izu, the mountain of outpouring.
- Commentary
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Miscellaneous Poems 638
Headnote: "On a pilgrimage to Mount Sōtō"
On a pilgrimage to Mount Sōtō, the shrine of Izusan Gongen, the poet saw hot water gushing toward the sea and admired how fitting it was to call it Izu, from izu, "to pour forth." Kamo no Mabuchi marked it with a sign of praise.
The Ruijū text gives the headnote as "A poem on visiting Mount Sōtō." The text transmitted by Teika spells line 1 differently. The base and Ruijū texts write ube in line 5 as be, here corrected to ube after Kamo no Mabuchi, who notes that watatsumi is the name of the sea god and is also used for the sea itself.
Line 1 means "of the sea."
Line 2 means "facing the open water."
Line 3 means "the hot spring that pours out," leading to izu in line 4.
Line 4 means "the mountain of Izu," izu meaning both "pour forth" and the place name.
Line 5 means "well indeed they named it." The next poem, 639, also uses ube to explain the name Sōtō, the two forming a pair.
- Author
- Minamoto no Sanetomo
- Source
- Kinkaishu
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Fuyugomori Nachi no arashi no samukereba koke no koromo no usuku ya aruramu
- Next Poem
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Hashiriyu no kami to wa ube mo iikerashi hayaki shirushi no areba narikeri