Kokinshu #916

Written when he traveled to Naniwa.

    And so for a while
it seems I must become
    a fisherman now,
reaping the gem-like seaweed
that grows in Naniwa Bay.

—31 October 2010

Original by Ki no Tsurayuki. Naniwa, an inlet of what's now Osaka harbor, was the nearest seaport to Kyoto. The prefatory first two lines (my last two) are jointed to the main statement with the pivot kari-some = "starting to reap" / karisome = "temporary." The seaweed (tamamo) is written with kanji for "jewel" and "seaweed," where the former in more prosaic contexts works as a prefix conveying a sense of "beautiful," but since the word is a poeticism, "gem" is often used in translation.


naniwagata
ouru tamamo o
karisome no
ama to zo ware wa
narinuberanaru

---L.