VOLUME-6
☆Yamabe-no (Sukune) Akahito’s poem:
若の浦に
潮満ちくれば
潟をなみ
葦辺をさして
鶴鳴き渡る
(山部宿禰赤人 巻6-919)
Wakano-ura ni
Shiho michi kureba
Katawo nami
Ashibe-wo sashite
Tazu naki wataru
Tides begin to swell,
In Wakano-Ura Inlet,
Swallowing marshlands.
Cranes are now starting to soar,
Croaking, for new reedy shores.
(Vol.6-919)
Akahito wrote this poem when he accompanied in entourage Emperor Shohmu during the Emperor’s visit to Wakano-Ura Inlet in Kinokuni Province (now Wakayama Pref.). Tazu, or Tsuru, as they are called in Japan, cranes in English, are wading birds, and in modern times, cranes fly from North to Japan, but only to a limited number of areas such as Hokkaido, Yamaguchi Pref., Kagoshima Pref.
It seems as though cranes were wading back and forth to various parts of Japan in the old time – perhaps the difference of climate between now and then?
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