Two poems, with tanka, composed by Hitomaro, Lord Kakinomoto, when he had parted from his wife and come up to the capital from the province of Iwami.
石見の海 角の浦廻を 浦なしと 人こそ見らめ 潟なしと 人こそ見らめ よしゑやし 浦はなくとも よしゑやし 潟は なくとも 鯨魚取り 海邊を指して 柔田津の 荒礒の上に か靑なる 玉藻沖つ藻 朝羽振る 風こそ寄せめ 夕羽振る 波こそ來寄れ 波のむた か寄りかく寄る 玉藻なす 寄り寢し妹を 露霜の 置きてし來れば この道の 八十隈ごとに 萬たび かへり見すれど いや遠に 里は離りぬ いや高に 山も越え來ぬ 夏草の 思ひ萎へて 偲ふらむ 妹が門見む 靡けこの山
ipami nö umi tuno nö urami wo ura nasi tö pitö kösö mirame kata nasi tö pitö kösö mirame y osiweyasi ura pa naku tömo yosiweyasi kata pa naku tömo izana töri umipe wo sasite nikitadu nö ariso nö upë ni ka’awo naru tamamo oki tu mo asa pa puru kaze kösö yöseme yupu pa puru nami kösö kiyöre nami nö muta ka yori kaku yöru tamamo nasu yörinesi imo wo tuyu simo nö okitesi kureba könö miti nö yaso kuma götö nö yörödu tabi kaperimisuredö iya töpo ni sato pa sakarinu iya taka ni yama mo koekinu natukusa nö omopisinaete sinöburamu imo ga kado mimu nabike könö yama |
By the sea in Iwami, On the shore at Tsuno, There is no beach, For folk to see; No shallow water, For folk to see; Yet even so, Though there be no beach; Yet even so, Though there be no shallow water: On the whale hunting Seashore At Nikitazu, On the rocky shoreline, The blue, blue Jeweled seaweed, just offshore, With the wings of morning, Will the wind bring closer; With the wings of dusk, Will the waves draw closer; And with the waves, Moving forth and back, As the jeweled seaweed, My darling, once cuddled close, Like frosted dewdrops Fallen, left behind, so On this road With its eighty turnings A myriad times Have I turned my head, but Gradually more Distant is my home; Gradually, higher Mountains too, have I passed through: She, as summer grass, Down drooping, Remembering: That I might see my darling’s gateposts, Tremble, oh ye mountains! |