Shirasebaya honomi Mishimae ni sode hichite nanase no yodo ni omou kokoro o - Kinyo Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

知らせばやほのみしま江に袖ひちて
七瀬の淀に思ふ心を

Roma-ji: Shirasebaya honomi Mishimae ni sode hichite nanase no yodo ni omou kokoro o
English Translation: Would that I could tell,
having glimpsed you, at Mishima
inlet with soaked sleeves,
how in the pools of seven shallows
my longing heart lies stilled
Meaning: I wish I could let you know my heart, which, having glimpsed you faintly, soaks its sleeves at Mishima Inlet and lies stagnant like the still pools of the seven shallows.
Commentary: Book Eleven Variant Poems 689

The poet wishes to let the beloved know a heart that, after only a faint glimpse, is soaked in tears like sleeves wet in the waters of Mishima Inlet, its longing stalled like the still pools of the seven shallows. The scene of famous watery places is overlaid with the frustration of love for one seen only faintly.
This poem is found only in a variant manuscript line of the anthology; in the variant order it is placed after 385 in Book Seven. Poem 385 is also a love poem taking the dew on one's sleeve as tears.
The author, Akinaka, is Minamoto no Akinaka, a son of the Minister of the Right Minamoto no Akifusa, who became Head of the Council of Divinities. Among his daughters was Taikenmon'in no Horikawa.

First line, 'shirasebaya', means I wish I could tell, the particle baya expressing the speaker's own wish; the poem breaks after the first line.
Second line, 'honomi Mishimae ni', joins honomi, glimpsing faintly, with Mishimae, a famous inlet in Settsu.
Third line, 'sode hichite', means my sleeves soaked, overlaying the waterside scene with tears.
Fourth line, 'nanase no yodo ni', means in the still pools of many shallows, a figure for stalled longing.
Final line, 'omou kokoro o', means my heart that yearns, inverted to return to shirasebaya in the first line. Inlet, soaking, shallows and pools are associated words.
Author: Minamoto no Akinaka
Source: Kinyo Wakashu
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