Umi to nomi madoi no naka wa narinumeri sonagara aranu kage no miyureba - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

海とのみまとゐの中はなりぬめり
そながらあらぬ影の見ゆれば

Roma-ji: Umi to nomi madoi no naka wa narinumeri sonagara aranu kage no miyureba
English Translation: Into a sea alone
the circle where we gather
has turned, it seems,
for one is seen who is himself
and yet is not the same
Meaning: The circle where we sit has become nothing but a sea of tears, it seems—for we see a figure who is the very same, and yet not the same at all.
Commentary: Book Fifteen Miscellaneous Poems I 1098

Headnote: "Reply."
The poet says that the circle where they gather has become nothing but a sea of tears, for they see a figure who is the same and yet not the same. Taking up the dew of tears in the preceding poem, she answers that it has become not dew but a sea, and voices her grief before the Cloistered Emperor with his shaven head.
It is Ise's reply to the Shichijō Empress's poem before it.
The poet, Ise, was a daughter of Fujiwara no Tsugikage, governor of Ise, and served the Shichijō Empress, Fujiwara no Onshi. She won the favor of Emperor Uda and later bore Nakatsukasa to Prince Atsuyoshi. One of the Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals, she is represented in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu by "Naniwagata mijikaki ashi no fushi no ma mo."

The first line, "Umi to nomi," means "into nothing but a sea," taking up the "dew" of the preceding poem and exaggerating the tears into a sea.
The second line, "madoi no naka wa," means "the circle where we gather," taking up "madoi" in the last line of the preceding poem.
The third line, "narinumeri," means "has become, it seems," with "nu" the perfective and "meri" conjecture based on what is seen. The poem pauses here.
The fourth line, "sonagara aranu," means "the same, and yet not so," saying that he is the Cloistered Emperor of old, yet not in his old form.
The last line, "kage no miyureba," means "since a figure is seen," with "kage" meaning form. It points to the Cloistered Emperor with his head shaven.
Author: Ise
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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