Practise the thinking. Keep the judgement.
わたの原
Fujiwara no Tadamichi · 法性寺入道前関白太政大臣
わたの原
漕ぎ出でて見れば
久方の
雲居にまがふ
沖つ白浪
Historical kana
わたのはら
こぎいでてみれば
ひさかたの
くもゐにまがふ
おきつしらなみ
Original English translation
Rowing out over the broad sea, I see offshore white waves that might be clouds in the distant sky.
History and context
Tadamichi is named in the collection by a long sequence of court titles. The Shikashū poem treats the sea as an expansive visual field rather than making an explicit claim about a particular voyage.
Imagery and wordplay
White waves and clouds lose their boundary. The horizon makes sea and sky appear continuous.
Shikashū · 詞花集雑下380
Japanese text and historical kana follow the linked Wikisource transcription. Classical poems can have variant spellings and wording in different anthologies. The source anthology reference identifies the version represented in this collection, not necessarily its earliest surviving text. English prose translations and reading notes are original interpretations; some wordplay permits more than one reading.