Hyakunin Isshu #18

[lnhammer]

    approaching the shore
of the Bay of Sumi -- waves
    even at night
not on the path of dreams -- you
avoiding other's eyes ... ?

— 7-13 March 2010

Original by Fujiwara no Toshiyuki. This was really hard to render, not only because the "not" and "you" are omitted-but-understood, but also the original the third line (matching mine) can be read with either the lines before or after it -- an effect I failed to reproduce, though I did catch something of the fragmentary syntax. Sumi Bay, near what's now Osaka, was famous at the time for its pines (matsu), thus making it a location where poetic lovers often wait (also matsu -- the same pun as in #16). It's possible to read the waves as symbols of public opinion, thus linking the two juxtaposed images.


suminoe no
kishi ni yoru nami
yoru sae ya
yume no kayoiji
hitome yokuramu

---L.