Awaji shima
Kayou chidori no
Naku koe ni
Iku yo nezamenu
Suma no seki-mori.
KANEMASA MINAMOTO
Between Awaji and the shore
The birds scream in their flight;
Full oft they’ve made the Suma Guard
Toss through a sleepless night,
Until the morning light.
The writer was the son of Kanesuke, and died about the year 1112. Chidori are snipe or plovers, but here are apparently meant for seagulls. Awaji is a large island in the Inland Sea, near Kobe, and Suma is a point on the mainland in the Province of Settsu, immediately opposite.
