Ashi no ya no nada no shioyaki itoma nami tsuge no ogushi mo sasazu kinikeri - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

芦の屋の灘の塩焼きいとまなみ
黄楊の小櫛もささず来にけり

Roma-ji: Ashi no ya no nada no shioyaki itoma nami tsuge no ogushi mo sasazu kinikeri
English Translation: At Ashinoya,
the salt-burner of the shore
has no time to spare—
not even her boxwood comb
has she put in, coming here.
Meaning: The woman who burns salt on the Ashinoya shore has no time to spare, and so she has come without even putting in her little boxwood comb.
Commentary: Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems II 1590

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown."
This is the first poem of a sequence on the salt-burning and fires of the fisherfolk. It says that the salt-burner of the Ashinoya shore, having no leisure, has come without even putting in her boxwood comb. The headnote gives the topic as unknown and records nothing of the circumstances.
The author, "Ariwara no Narihira Ason," was a son of Prince Abo, himself a son of Emperor Heizei. One of the Six Poetic Immortals, he is taken to be the model for the hero of The Tales of Ise.
In Episode 87 of The Tales of Ise, the poem is cited as an old poem about the village of Ashinoya.
The Ashinoya shore lies on the coast of Settsu Province, around present-day Ashiya in Hyōgo Prefecture. It is sung as a bay where fisherfolk burn salt.

The first line, "ashi no ya no," names the place Ashinoya in Settsu Province.
The second line, "nada no shioyaki," refers to one who burns salt on the shore, here a fisher woman. "Shioyaki" is used to mean the person herself.
The third line, "itoma nami," means "having no leisure." The suffix "mi" added to the stem of the adjective "nashi" expresses cause or reason.
The fourth line, "tsuge no ogushi mo," is a small comb of boxwood. With "mo," "not even the comb she would tidy herself with," it shows how busy her work keeps her.
The last line, "sasazu kinikeri," means "she has come without putting it in." "Keri" expresses exclamation at a sudden realization.
Author: Ariwara no Narihira
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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