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Audio: NHK Creative Library
Read by LibriVox volunteer Larry Wilson.
Audio courtesy of LibriVox (Public Domain).
祐子内親王家紀伊
音に聞く
高師の浜の
あだ波は
かけじや袖の
ぬれもこそすれ
かけしやそ
てのぬれも
こそすれ
おと
- Poem 72
- 音に聞く
高師の浜の
あだ波は
かけじや袖の ぬれもこそすれ
Author: Kii of Princess Yūshi's Household (dates unknown)
Source: Kin'yō Wakashū, Love
- English Verse Translation
- The sound of ripples on the shore, E'er fails at Takashi; My sleeves all worn and wet with
tears, Should surely prove to thee, too, will constant be.
— William N. Porter, 1909
- Modern Translation
- I have heard how fickle the waves at Takashi Beach are. I will not let them wet my sleeves — I will keep my heart guarded.
- Commentary
- This poem was composed for the Horikawa-in Love-Letter Poetry Match, a type of contest in which a man sends a love poem and a woman replies in kind. The twenty-nine-year-old Fujiwara no Toshitada opened with a poem confessing a secret longing, comparing it to waves quietly rolling in with the sea breeze at night. In response, Kii — then in her seventies — cleverly turned him down, likening his sweet words to the fickle, untrustworthy waves of Takashi Beach.
- About the Poet
- Kii served as a lady-in-waiting to Princess Yūshi, the eldest daughter of Emperor Go-Suzaku, and was active as a poet for many years. Her name comes from the post of Governor of Kii, held by her husband, said to have been Fujiwara no Shigetsune.
- Kii of Princess Yūshi's Household's Chart of the Heart
-
A chart and a modern-language reflection of the poet's inner feelings.
The Poet's Feelings (A Personal Interpretation)
Sweet words, like waves,
are never something to rely on.Rather than let my heart be stirred,
I'd choose a quiet peace instead.
- Poem Illustration
-
This image is based on an illustration from William N. Porter's A Hundred Verses from Old Japan, his 1909 English translation of the Hyakunin Isshu published in England, colorized and reworked using Adobe Firefly (generative AI).