Ise no umi no ama no tsurinawa uchihaete kurushi to nomi ya omoiwataramu - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

伊勢の海の海人の釣縄うちはへて
くるしとのみや思ひわたらむ

Roma-ji: Ise no umi no ama no tsurinawa uchihaete kurushi to nomi ya omoiwataramu
English Translation: In the sea of Ise
the fisher's long line stretches
out across the waves
and as it is hauled, I too
must go on in endless pain
Meaning: Like the long fishing line stretched out and hauled in by the fishermen of the sea of Ise, must I go on and on thinking only of how painful love is?
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems I 510

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
Taking as its preface the fishermen of Ise hauling in their long, outstretched lines, the poem sings of a love that goes on thinking only of its pain. Pivoting kuru, to haul, with kurushi, painful, it expresses the endless suffering of love, stretched out like the long line. It pairs with the float of the preceding poem, the two matched in scenes of fishing on the sea of Ise.

First line, "In the sea of Ise": like the preceding poem, 509, it sings of the sea of Ise, and the two form a pair.
Second line, "the fisher's long line stretches": ama no tsurinawa is the fisherman's long line hung with many hooks.
Third line, "out across the waves": uchihaete means both stretching out long and continuing long. Lines one through three form a preface leading to kurushi in the fourth line.
Fourth line, "and as it is hauled, I too": kuru is a pivot word meaning both "to haul" the line and "painful." The particle ya is interrogative and forms a kakari-musubi with mu at the end.
Fifth line, "must go on in endless pain": omoiwataramu means "must I go on thinking?", with wataru meaning to continue. Wataru is used in association with the line "stretched across."
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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