Ise no umi ni shio yaku ama no fujigoromo naru to wa suredo awanu kimi kana - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

伊勢の海に塩焼くあまの藤衣
なるとはすれど逢はぬ君かな

Roma-ji: Ise no umi ni shio yaku ama no fujigoromo naru to wa suredo awanu kimi kana
English Translation: Like the wisteria robes
of fishers burning salt
by the sea of Ise,
we have grown familiar,
yet you will never meet me
Meaning: Like the coarse robes of the fishers who burn salt by the sea of Ise, grown soft with wear, we have become familiar with each other, and yet you will not meet me as a lover.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems III 744

Headnote: "Sent to a woman with whom he served in the same household and whom he saw every day."
The poet says they have grown familiar, as the wisteria robes of Ise fishers soften with wear, yet she will not meet him. He laments that a woman he sees every day while serving in the same place will not meet him as a lover.
According to the headnote, the poem was sent to a woman with whom he served in the same household and whom he saw constantly. 718 in this book also sings of an Ise fisher's robe and of a garment worn soft with "shionare," using the same conceit.
The poet, listed as "Mitsune," was Ōshikōchi no Mitsune. One of the compilers of the Kokin Wakashū, he is one of the Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals, and his "kokoroate ni oraba ya oramu hatsushimo no" is included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.

The first line, "Ise no umi ni," means "by the sea of Ise."
The second line, "shio yaku ama no," means "of the fishers who burn salt."
The third line, "fujigoromo," is a coarse robe woven of wisteria fiber, which leads into "naru" in the fourth line since such robes grow soft with wear. The lines up to here form a preface.
In the fourth line, "naru to wa suredo," "naru" is a pivot word meaning both a garment growing soft with wear and people growing familiar.
The last line, "awanu kimi kana," means "you who will not meet me," with "kana" an exclamatory particle.
Author: Oshikochi no Mitsune
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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