Tamamo karu ama ni wa aranedo watatsumi no sokoi mo shirazu iru kokoro kana - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

玉藻刈る海人にはあらねどわたつみの
底ひも知らず入る心かな

Roma-ji: Tamamo karu ama ni wa aranedo watatsumi no sokoi mo shirazu iru kokoro kana
English Translation: Though I am no diver
who gathers the jeweled weed,
into the wide sea,
not knowing where its depths end,
so deep my heart goes down
Meaning: I am no diver who gathers the fine seaweed, and yet my heart plunges into the sea of love without knowing where its depths end.
Commentary: Book Twelve Love Poems IV 798

Headnote: "Sent when he set his heart on someone above his station."
The poet says that though he is no diver gathering seaweed, his heart plunges into the sea without knowing where its depths end. He overlaps a love for someone beyond his rank with the figure of a diver sinking into a fathomless sea, conveying both its depth and its danger.
According to the headnote, the poem was sent when he set his heart on someone above his own rank. The next poem, 799, was sent again when this one received no reply, and both describe love through images of the sea.
The poet, Ki no Tomonori, was a son of Ki no Aritomo and a cousin of Ki no Tsurayuki. One of the compilers of the Kokin Wakashū, he died before it was completed. One of the Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals, his "hisakata no hikari nodokeki haru no hi ni" is included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.

The first line, "Tamamo karu," means "who gathers the jeweled seaweed," "tama" being a term of praise.
The second line, "ama ni wa aranedo," means "though I am not a diver," with "do" adversative.
The third line, "watatsumi no," means "of the sea."
The fourth line, "sokoi mo shirazu," means "not knowing even where its depths end," expressing the unfathomable depth of love.
The last line, "iru kokoro kana," means "how my heart goes in," layering plunging deep into the sea with sinking deep into longing. "Kana" expresses emotion.
Author: Ki no Tomonori
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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