Asaborake ato naki nami ni naku chidori ana kotogotoshi aware itsu made

朝ぼらけ跡なき波に鳴く千鳥
あなことごとしあはれいつまで

Roma-ji: Asaborake ato naki nami ni naku chidori ana kotogotoshi aware itsu made
English Translation: At break of day,
on the waves that leave no trace
a plover calls—
ah, what a fuss it makes!
Alas, for how long now?
Meaning: At daybreak a plover cries over the waves that leave no trace; ah, what a fuss it makes. Alas, for how long can it go on?
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 704

Headnote: "Plovers"
At dawn a plover keeps crying over waves that vanish without a trace; how overwrought it is, and how long can it go on? The poem carries a sense of impermanence about those who clamour in a fleeting world.

Line 1 means "at daybreak."
Line 2 means "on the traceless waves," emblem of transience.
Line 3 means "the crying plover," with a break after the line; after the geese and cranes of the two preceding poems it sings of a bird's cry.
Line 4 means "ah, how overwrought," ana an interjection.
Line 5 means "alas, until when?" It shares this last line with the next poem, 705, the two ending on the same lament of impermanence.
Author: Minamoto no Sanetomo
Source: Kinkaishu
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