Ise no umi ni tsuri suru ama no uke nare ya kokoro hitotsu o sadamekanetsuru - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

伊勢の海に釣りする海人の浮子なれや
心ひとつを定めかねつる

Roma-ji: Ise no umi ni tsuri suru ama no uke nare ya kokoro hitotsu o sadamekanetsuru
English Translation: In the sea of Ise
am I like the fisher's float
bobbing on his line
that this one heart of mine
I cannot hold steady
Meaning: Am I the float of a fisherman angling in the sea of Ise, that I cannot keep even my own single heart steady?
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems I 509

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poem likens a heart unsettled by love to a fishing float drifting among the waves. The poet's bewilderment at being unable to steady even his own heart is expressed as the question, "Am I a float?" Following the great ship of the preceding poem, it again entrusts a swaying heart to something floating on the sea.
The last line in the main text reads sadamekanetsuru, which does not match sasamekanetsuru in the kana reading line. Here the main text is followed.

First line, "In the sea of Ise": the sea of Ise Province, sung of as a sea of thriving fisheries. The next poem, 510, begins with the same "sea of Ise," and the two form a pair.
Second line, "am I like the fisher's float": tsuri suru ama no means of the fisherman who angles.
Third line, "bobbing on his line": uke is a float attached to a line or net to mark it on the surface. Nare ya means "is it because I am?", and the poem pauses here. The line has an extra syllable.
Fourth line, "that this one heart of mine": kokoro hitotsu wo, my single heart, expresses the contradiction that a heart which should be one cannot be settled.
Fifth line, "I cannot hold steady": sadamekanetsuru means being unable to settle it, overlaying the float rocked by waves with the wavering heart.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Kokin Wakashu
Prev Poem: Ide ware o hito na togame so ōbune no yuta no tayuta ni mono omou koro zo
Next Poem: Ise no umi no ama no tsurinawa uchihaete kurushi to nomi ya omoiwataramu