由良の門を

渡る船人

かぢを絶え

行方も知らぬ

恋の道かな

そねのよしただ

ゆらのとを

わたるふなびと

かじをたえ

ゆくえもしらぬ

こいのみちかな

Sone no Yoshitada

Like a boatsman

Navigating Yura Strait

Without a rudder

Neither do I know

Where my love will lead me.

Hiroshige - Maiden and ferryman

Sone no Yoshitada (no dates known), was active as a poet in the last quarter of the tenth century. He spent his official career in the former province of Tango (now north of Kyoto Prefecture), from which came his sobriquets ‘Sotango’ and ‘Sotan’, and, in his lifetime, was regarded as an inferior poet. His style and vocabulary were considered peculiar, and only later his work became celebrated for its freshness and vitality and was increasingly represented in imperial anthologies.

作者略伝と語釈

Unfortunately, no woodcut by Hokusai is known for this poem. Hiroshige seems to have made a caricature of it.

According to Peter Morse the Yura Strait is the main southern entrance to Osaka Bay, between Awaji Island and the Kii Peninsula. However, the generally accepted location is near Miyazu, Kyoto,  in the former province of Tango, where Yoshitada was stationed.

Yura coast

This poem is the most straightforward of all in this anthology. It is clear without hidden meanings. The only controversy between commentators is whether the rudder is lost (kaji wo tae) or the rudder cord is broken (kajiwo tae). The result remains the same.