Ise no ama to kimi shi narinaba onajiku wa koishiki hodo ni mirume karaseyo - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

伊勢の海人と君しなりなば同じくは
恋しきほどにみるめ刈らせよ

Roma-ji: Ise no ama to kimi shi narinaba onajiku wa koishiki hodo ni mirume karaseyo
English Translation: If it should be so
that you become a diver
on the sea of Ise,
while I long for you, at least
let me gather mirume
Meaning: If you are to become a diver of Ise, then let me, while I still long for you so, gather the mirume—grant me a chance to see you.
Commentary: Book Thirteen Love Poems V 908

Headnote: "Sent when the parent of a woman he had been writing to went down to Ise, and she was going too."
The poet says that if she is to become a diver of Ise, then while he still longs for her she should let him gather mirume. Picturing the woman bound for Ise as one of its divers, he begs to meet her once before she leaves.
According to the headnote, the parent of a woman he had been writing to was going to Ise, and she was going too. Like the opening poem, 891, it draws on the divers of Ise and "mirume," but where the opening poem wishes to become a diver and gather seaweed, here the beloved becomes the diver and he asks her to let him gather it, a reversed design.
The poet is listed as anonymous, and the composer's name has not come down to us.

The first line, "Ise no ama to," means "a diver of Ise," picturing the woman going to Ise as a diver.
The second line, "kimi shi narinaba," means "if you should become," with "shi" an emphatic adverbial particle and "naba" the irrealis of the perfective "nu" with "ba," a supposition.
The third line, "onajiku wa," means "if it is all the same, then."
The fourth line, "koishiki hodo ni," means "while I still long for you."
The last line, "mirume karaseyo," means "let me gather mirume," with "mirume" joining the seaweed and a chance to meet. It ends on the same word as the opening poem, 891.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
Prev Poem: Ne ni nakeba hitowarae nari kuretake no yo ni henu o dani kachinu to omowan
Next Poem: Koishiku wa kage o dani mite nagusameyo waga uchitokete shinobu kao nari