Oboroke no ama ya wa kazuku Ise no umi no nami takaki ura ni ouru mirume wa - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

おぼろけの海人やはかづく伊勢の海の
浪高き浦に生ふるみるめは

Roma-ji: Oboroke no ama ya wa kazuku Ise no umi no nami takaki ura ni ouru mirume wa
English Translation: Is it any common
diver who could plunge below—
on the sea of Ise,
in the bay where waves run high,
for the mirume growing there
Meaning: Could any ordinary diver plunge down and gather it? Surely not—the mirume that grows in the bay of Ise, where the waves run high.
Commentary: Book Thirteen Love Poems V 892

Headnote: "Reply."
The poet asks whether any ordinary diver could plunge down for the mirume that grows in the high-waved bay of Ise. Taking up the diver and seaweed of the preceding poem, she gently turns aside his suit by saying that meeting her is no easy thing.
It is placed as the reply to the preceding poem, 891. Overlaying the sea of Ise with her own name, she likens herself to seaweed growing in a bay of high waves, showing her proud reserve.
The poet, Ise, was a daughter of Fujiwara no Tsugukage. She served Empress Onshi, consort of Emperor Uda, and won the emperor's favor. One of the Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals, her "naniwagata mijikaki ashi no fushi no ma mo" is included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.

The first line, "Oboroke no," means "ordinary, commonplace."
The second line, "ama ya wa kazuku," means "would a diver dive for it? never," with "ya wa" a rhetorical binding particle closed by the attributive "kazuku." The poem pauses here, and the order is inverted with what follows.
The third line, "Ise no umi no," means "of the sea of Ise," overlaying the poet's own name.
The fourth line, "nami takaki ura ni," means "in the bay where the waves are high," a place hard to approach. It answers "nami kakiwakete" in the preceding poem with the height of the waves.
The last line, "ouru mirume wa," means "the mirume that grows there," with "mirume" also meaning a chance to see her. Like the preceding poem, it closes on "mirume."
Author: Ise
Source: Gosen Wakashu
Prev Poem: Ise no umi ni asobu ama tomo narinishika nami kakiwakete mirume kazukamu
Next Poem: Tsurashi to ya iihatete mashi shiratsuyu no hito ni kokoro wa okaji to omou o