My sleeves are like the offshore stone that stays hidden beneath the sea even at low tide — no one knows of them, but they never have a moment to dry from my tears.
Nijō-in no Sanuki was the daughter of Minamoto no Yorimasa (Genzanmi Yorimasa). She served Emperor Nijō and later Retired Emperor Go-Toba, a poet who lived through the turmoil from the end of the Heian period into the early Kamakura period. This poem was composed on the topic "Love Likened to a Stone" (yoseki koi). To the difficult challenge of writing about love through a "stone," Sanuki answered with a metaphor no one had thought of—a stone on the seabed offshore that never shows above the surface, even at low tide. She overlaid this stone, forever wet regardless of the tides, onto her own sleeves, forever wet with tears no one sees. The poem became a sensation in its own day, and she came to be called "Sanuki of the Offshore Stone." It is also said to be an allusive variation (honkadori) on a poem by Izumi Shikibu—a poem in which feeling was handed down from one poem to the next.
- A topic poem on "Love Likened to a Stone." For inventing the metaphor of a stone on the seabed offshore that never appears even at low tide, she was called "Sanuki of the Offshore Stone" - The core is the double pain of being "unseen": the bitterness of tears of love, plus the fact that no one knows of them - Considered an allusive variation on Izumi Shikibu's "Are my sleeves a stone beneath the water? Unknown to anyone, they never have time to dry"—a fine example of the baton passed from poem to poem - Her father was Minamoto no Yorimasa (who took his own life in Prince Mochihito's uprising). A poet who lived through the Genpei turmoil
"You seem to be doing well," someone says, and again today I manage to smile so well. Only the bright photos lined up; the sunken nights never posted—we layered tears no one sees onto the "below the surface" of the social-media age. When night comes the tide rises, and I sink all the way to the bottom of the room. To a depth no number of "likes" can reach. In the Bridge we touch the seabed of a thousand years ago: "The same stone lay sunken there; of tears no one could see, only a song knew." The original ends without any salvation. But in this song, the very fact that Sanuki left this poem behind becomes salvation a thousand years later. Final Chorus—"My sleeves, no one knows them; and if I can feel that that's all right, it's because there's a song that has known these tears since a thousand years ago. You're not alone, say the waves." Your unseen tears were already sung, a thousand years ago.
わが袖は（千載集/二条院讃岐・百人一首92番）Garu JP
「元気そうだね」って 言われた
今日も 上手に 笑えてた
誰も気づかない くらいに
私は 私を 隠せる
でも夜が来ると 潮が満ちる
部屋の底まで 沈んでいく
わが袖は 潮干に見えぬ
沖の石の ように
人こそ知らね 乾く間もなし
誰も知らない 涙がある
水面の下で 泣いている
明るい写真 並べながら
沈んだ夜は 載せなかった
「いいね」の数じゃ 届かない
深さで 沈んでいるのに
浅瀬の言葉じゃ 触れられない
この痛みには 名前もない
わが袖は 潮干に見えぬ
沖の石の まま
人こそ知らね 乾く間もなし
知られないまま 濡れていく
今日も水面は 静かなまま
千年前の 海の底にも
同じ石が 沈んでいた
誰にも見えない 涙のことを
歌だけが 知っていた
わが袖は 潮干に見えぬ 沖の石の
人こそ知らね 乾く間もなし
わが袖は 誰も知らない
それでもいいと 思えるのは
千年前から この涙を
知ってる歌が あるから
一人じゃないと 波が言う
沖の石の……
乾く間もなし
Waga Sode wa (Senzai Wakashu / Hyakunin Isshu No.92) Garu JP
"You look well," they said to me
Today, again, I smiled so well
So well that no one ever notices
I know how to hide myself
But when night falls, the tide comes in
And I sink to the bottom of my room
My sleeves are like a hidden stone
Offshore, unseen even at low tide
No one knows — yet never a moment dry
There are tears that no one knows
Crying beneath the quiet surface
Lining up my brightest photos
I never posted the nights I sank
Sinking at a depth no number
of "likes" could ever reach
Shallow words can never touch it
This pain doesn't even have a name
My sleeves are like a hidden stone
Offshore, unseen, unchanged
No one knows — yet never a moment dry
Soaking on, unknown to anyone
Today, again, the surface stays calm
A thousand years ago, on the same sea floor
The same stone lay sunken and still
And the tears that no one could see
Only a poem ever knew
My sleeves are the offshore stone unseen at low tide
No one knows them — never a moment dry
My sleeves — no one will ever know
And if I can say that's all right
It's because a song has known these tears
For a thousand years
"You are not alone," say the waves
The offshore stone...
Never a moment dry