Omoiki ya hina no wakare ni otoroete ama no nawa taki isari semu to wa - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

思ひきや鄙の別れに衰へて
海人の縄たき漁りせむとは

Roma-ji: Omoiki ya hina no wakare ni otoroete ama no nawa taki isari semu to wa
English Translation: Did I ever think
that parted in the far provinces,
fallen low like this,
like the fisherfolk hauling ropes
I would one day go fishing?
Meaning: Did I ever imagine that, cast off to the distant provinces and brought so low, I would be hauling in ropes and fishing like the fisherfolk?
Commentary: Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Poems II 961

Headnote: "Composed when I had been exiled to the province of Oki"
The author, exiled to Oki for refusing to serve as vice-envoy to Tang China, composed this poem in his place of exile. He laments the drastic change in his fortunes: a court official of the capital, he never imagined he would be hauling in ropes and fishing like the fisherfolk of a remote shore.
Ariwara no Narihira's poem 970 in this book also uses "did I ever think," and with the same construction, "did I ever think ... that," expresses an unforeseen situation.
The author, "Takamura no Ason," is Ono no Takamura, son of the councillor Ono no Minemori. In the Jōwa era he refused the post of vice-envoy to Tang and was exiled to Oki, but was later pardoned and rose to be a councillor.

The first line, "did I ever think," uses ki (past) and ya (rhetorical question): "I never imagined." The poem breaks after this line, which is answered by to wa at the end in an inverted structure.
The second line, "parted in the far provinces," refers to being sent to live far from the capital.
The third line, "fallen low like this," means reduced in fortune.
The fourth line, "like the fisherfolk hauling ropes," uses taki, from taku, "to haul in."
The last line, "I would one day go fishing?", closes the inversion begun by "did I ever think." It shares this construction with 970 in this book.
Author: Ono no Takamura
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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