住の江の

岸による波

よるさへや

夢の通ひ路

人目よくらむ

ふじわらのとしゆきあそん

すみのえの

きしによるなみ

よるさえや

ゆめのかよいじ

ひとめよくらん

Fujiwara no Toshiyuki

As in the Bay of Sumi

The waves surge onto the shore

In the gathering night

When in dreams I go to you

I hide from people's eyes.

Hokusai

Fujiwara no Toshiyuki (birthdate unknown - 901 or 907), also called Fujiwara Toshiyuki Ason), was a middle Heian waka poet and nobleman. He is one of the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

作者略伝と語釈

Sumi-no-e, Sumi Bay or Sumiyoshi Bay is the shoreline of what is now the Sumiyoshi district of Osaka.

Yoru can mean ‘approach’ and ‘evening’.

On Hokusai’s woodcut we see two lovers looking out from a hatch on a boat.