Moshio yaku keburi ni naruru Suma no ama wa aki tatsu kiri mo wakazu ya aruran - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

藻塩焼く煙に馴るる須磨の海人は
秋たつ霧もわかずやあるらん

Roma-ji: Moshio yaku keburi ni naruru Suma no ama wa aki tatsu kiri mo wakazu ya aruran
English Translation: Used to the smoke
rising where the salt is burned,
the fishers of Suma,
even autumn's rising mist,
do they fail to tell it apart?
Meaning: The fisherfolk of Suma, so used to the smoke of burning seaweed for salt, perhaps cannot tell apart even the mist that rises as autumn begins.
Commentary: Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Autumn Poems 1096

Headnote: "For a screen of the Tenryaku era"
The poet wonders whether the fisherfolk of Suma, accustomed to the smoke of burning seaweed for salt, cannot tell from that smoke even the mist that rises as autumn begins. The headnote shows it was written for a screen of the Tenryaku reign of Emperor Murakami. Layering the smoke of salt-burning on the shore with the autumn mist, it depicts an autumn scene at Suma Bay.

First line, "moshio yaku," refers to pouring seawater over seaweed and burning it to make salt.
Second line, "keburi ni naruru," means "used to the smoke."
Third line, "Suma no ama wa," means "the fisherfolk of Suma Bay," a famous place in Settsu province, and is a hypermetric line of six syllables.
Fourth line, "aki tatsu kiri mo," turns on the pivot word "tatsu," joining "aki tatsu," autumn begins, and "kiri tatsu," mist rises. It stands beside the fourth line of the preceding poem, 1095, "hatsuaki kiri no," in singing of early autumn mist.
Final line, "wakazu ya aruran," means "do they fail to tell it apart," with "ya" a questioning binding particle resolved by the attributive form of the conjectural "ran."
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
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