[72] おと (Oto)

Poem Meaning and Background 

"Carrying Salt Water", woodblock print by Yoshimune Arai

おとにきく・たかしのはまの・あだなみは
oto ni kiku・Takashi no hama no・adanami wa

かけしやそでの・ぬれもこそすれ

kakeji ya sode no・nure mo koso sure

〜祐子内親王家紀伊（Yūshi Naishinnō-ke no Kii）

Translation

Famous are the waves

That break on Takashi beach

In noisy arrogance.

If I should go near that shore.

I would only wet my sleeves.

Meaning

This is another poem that was written for a poetry contest. This time, the topic was a love letter exchange: another poet, Chūnagon Fujiwara no Toshitada wrote the first poem as if he was a man writing to his lover and Lady Kii had to respond as if she were his lover. The poem Toshitada composed was: 

人知れぬ・思ひありその・浦風に  

波のよるこそ・言はまほしかれ　(Link)

 I couldn't find a translation online, but my interpretation of it is something along the lines of: 

Unspoken feelings・like the wind that blows rough waves・against Ariso's shore  

at night, when these feelings swell・I want to see you, and tell you

Kii's response became immortalized in the hyakunin isshu anthology. She borrows the same images of waves crashing on a shore, but she instead uses them to compose a curt rejection of the man's advances. The poem she composed contains several instances of words with double meanings, making it seem as if she is responding to a man who is famed for being a playboy. She rejects his request to see her by telling him that if she were to see him, she expects that it would only end with her sleeves getting wet (ie; that he would make her cry). 

In Kii's poem 音に聞く (oto ni kiku) means that she has heard rumors, or that he is "famous". What is famous are the "playful waves", あだ波 (ada nami). Here, あだ has a double meaning, and the author is using it to imply that the man is famous for playing around with women. The name of the beach is a real location in Osaka, 高石市 (takaishi shi) but also conveys that the man is famous, since 名高い (nadakai) means someone is "well-known". In the end, the author expresses that she does not want to get close to the shore/waves because she doesn't want to get her sleeves wet. Since the waves are a metaphor for the man, it actually means she doesn't want to see him. Her sleeves would literally get wet if she were to get too close to waves, but if she were to go near him, her sleeves would be wet with her own tears. 

Background

Yūshi Naishinnō-ke no Kii (dates unknown), also called Lady Kii in English, was the daughter of Emperor Go-Suzaku and an imperial princess. She later served Imperial Prince Yūshi, which is where her name derives from. She was a famed poet in her time and her poems are included in multiple imperial anthologies. Though her exact dates of birth and death are unknown, she apparently was in her 70's when she composed the poem above.