Isogakure kaki wa yaredomo moshiogusa tachikuru nami ni araware ya sen - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

磯隠れかきはやれども藻塩草
立ち来る波に現れやせん

Roma-ji: Isogakure kaki wa yaredomo moshiogusa tachikuru nami ni araware ya sen
English Translation: Hidden by the rocks
I have raked and written, sent
the salt-seaweed off,
yet by the waves that come rolling,
will it not be brought to light?
Meaning: Hidden behind the rocks, I gathered the salt-making seaweed, writing and sending my letters in secret; yet will the waves that come rolling in not lay them bare?
Commentary: Book Twelve Love Poems II 748

Headnote: "Composed on the topic 'Love conveyed by letter in secret'"
Composed on the topic "Love conveyed by letter in secret." Hidden by the rocks, he says, I raked up the salt-seaweed and sent it, but will it not be laid bare by the waves rolling in? Overlaying the raking up of salt-seaweed with the writing of letters, he expresses the fear that a love letter sent in secret will come to others' eyes.
The author, "Fujiwara no Iezane," was an official and poet of the last years of the Heian period. Little is known of his career.

First line, "isogakure": "hidden in the shelter of the rocks," overlapping with avoiding others' eyes.
Second line, "kaki wa yaredomo": "kaki" pivots between raking up seaweed and writing a letter. "Yaru" is to send, "though I have written and sent."
Third line, "moshiogusa": seaweed raked up for salt-burning, also used for writings gathered together.
Fourth line, "tachikuru nami ni": "by the waves that come rolling in," echoing the rising of rumor.
Fifth line, "araware ya sen": "ya" is an interrogative particle and "sen" the attributive of "mu," "will it not come to light?" It overlays seaweed laid bare by the waves with love made known to others.
Author: Fujiwara no Iezane
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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