46. The Priest Ne-yoshi-tada: Sō Ne-yoshi-tada
46
THE PRIEST NE-YOSHI-TADA
SŌ NE-YOSHI-TADA
Yura no to wo
Wataru funabito
Kaji wo tae
Yukue mo shiranu
Koi no michi kana.
Wataru funabito
Kaji wo tae
Yukue mo shiranu
Koi no michi kana.
THE fishing-boats are tossed about,
When stormy winds blow strong;
With rudder lost, how can they reach
The port for which they long?
So runs the old love-song.
Nothing is known of the writer of this verse, but he is said to have lived in. the tenth century. The meaning, not very clearly expressed in the translation, is that the course of true love is as uncertain as the course of the rudderless fishing-boats. In the illustration we see the fishing-boat tossing about on a rough sea and the rudder duly floating away astern.