Tayori araba ama no tsuribune kototsutemu hito o mirume ni motomewabinuru - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

たよりあらば海人の釣り舟言伝てむ
人をみるめに求めわびぬる

Roma-ji: Tayori araba ama no tsuribune kototsutemu hito o mirume ni motomewabinuru
English Translation: If chance should allow,
I would send word by the boat
of a fisherman:
"Like one who seeks sea-pine weed,
I search in vain for a glimpse of her"
Meaning: If there were some way, I would send a message by a fisherman's boat: that I have searched and searched, as one gathers sea-pine weed, for a chance to see her, and all in vain.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems I 673

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
If there is a chance, he says, I will send word by a fisherman's boat: that I search in vain for a sight of her, as for sea-pine weed. Combining in "mirume" the seaweed "sea-pine" and "a chance to see," and binding the poem together with related words of the sea such as "fisherman" and "fishing boat," he tries to convey the grief of a love that finds no means of meeting.
The author, "the Hanazono Minister of the Left," is Minamoto no Arihito. A grandson of Emperor Go-Sanjō and son of Prince Sukehito, he was made a commoner with the surname Minamoto and rose to Minister of the Left. He excelled in poetry and music.
Poem 646 of this book is by his father, Prince Sukehito. Love poems drawing on the things of the shore also appear in "Naniwae" in 641 at the head of the book and "Naniwame" in 665.

First line, "tayori araba": "tayori" means an occasion or connection, "if there were a way."
Second line, "ama no tsuribune": a fishing boat of the fisherfolk, to which he would entrust his message.
Third line, "kototsutemu": "mu" is volitional, "I will send word." The poem pauses here, and the lines that follow are the message.
Fourth line, "hito o mirume ni": "mirume" combines "mirume," sea-pine seaweed, and "mi-rume," a chance to see someone, a related word to "ama" and "tsuribune."
Fifth line, "motomewabinuru": "wabi" means to be unable to do something, and "nuru" is the attributive of the perfective "nu," "I have sought in vain."
Author: Minamoto no Arihito
Source: Senzai Wakashu
Prev Poem: Yo o itou hashi to omoishi kayoiji ni ayanaku hito o koiwataru kana
Next Poem: Mata mo naku tada hitosuji ni kimi omou koiji ni madou ware ya nani naru