That I long to see
the seaweed of that shore where
I have not learned yet,
what will the fisherfolk who
burn the salt make of it now

Meaning

That I still long, unchastened, for a sight of the seaweed of that bay—what will the salt-burning fisherfolk make of it?

Commentary

Part One: Suma

　Genji wrote to Oborozukiyo as well, dressing the letter up as a private note to Chunagon no Kimi. It says that even though the affair had brought him here, his heart had not turned from her. This poem went with it, and a short reply came folded into Chunagon no Kimi's letter. Hearing how she grieved, Genji wept.

　"Korizuma" means unchastened, and plays on the place-name Suma—one of the better-known bits of wordplay in this chapter. "Mirume" is a seaweed whose name also means eyes that see, hence meeting, a pun used in earlier chapters too. "The salt-burning fisherfolk" is himself at Suma. That a man who ought to have learned his lesson has not is said lightly, through a single pun on a place-name, so that a grave situation is wrapped in a jesting tone.

Author

Murasaki Shikibu

Source

Genji Monogatari

Other

That I long to see the seaweed of that shore where I have not learned yet, what will the fisherfolk who burn the salt make of it now

That I long to see
the seaweed of that shore where
I have not learned yet,
what will the fisherfolk who
burn the salt make of it now