Mizu no awa ya tane to naru ran ukikusa no maku hito nami no ue ni oureba - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

水の泡や種となるらん浮草の
まく人なみの上に生ふれば

Roma-ji: Mizu no awa ya tane to naru ran ukikusa no maku hito nami no ue ni oureba
English Translation: Is it the water's foam
that has become the seed?
For the floating weed
grows upon the waves where none
sows, and none is there to lose.
Meaning: Has the foam on the water become seed? For the floating weed grows upon the waves where no one sows it; with the contest never held, there is no one to lose.
Commentary: Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems II 524

Headnote: "When a poetry contest ended without being held"
The poet says that since the floating weed grows on the waves where no one sows it, the water's foam must have become its seed, while hinting that, with the poetry contest called off, there is no one left to lose. The headnote shows it was composed when a poetry contest that was to be held was cancelled. Pivoting on "maku," to sow and to lose a match, and "nami," lacking and waves, it lays over the image of floating weed a contest that ended with neither winner nor loser.
A note following the headnote states that "this poem is in Tsurayuki's collection," recording that it appears in the personal collection of Ki no Tsurayuki.

First line, "mizu no awa ya," means "the foam of the water," with the binding particle "ya" expressing a question resolved by "ran" in the second line. It is a hypermetric line.
Second line, "tane to naru ran," means "has it become the seed," and the poem breaks after this second line. It answers the first line of the next poem, 525, "tane nakute," through the word "tane," seed.
Third line, "ukikusa no," means "the floating weed."
Fourth line, "maku hito nami no," is a set of pivot words: "maku" means to "sow" seed and to "lose" a match, and "nami" means "since there is none" and "waves." It layers the waves where no one sows with there being no one to lose. The fourth line of the next poem, 525, "maku chō koto wa," likewise pivots on sowing and losing.
Final line, "ue ni oureba," means "since it grows upon," with "ba" after the perfective form expressing cause, giving in inverted order the reason for the conjecture in the second line.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
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