Waga koi wa ama no karu mo ni midaretsutsu kawaku toki naki nami no shitakusa - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

我が恋は海人の刈る藻に乱れつつ
乾く時なき波の下草

Roma-ji: Waga koi wa ama no karu mo ni midaretsutsu kawaku toki naki nami no shitakusa
English Translation: This love of mine is
like the seaweed the fishers cut,
ever tangled so:
the grass beneath the waves
that never has time to dry
Meaning: My love is ever tangled like the seaweed the fisherfolk cut, the grass beneath the waves that never has a moment to dry.
Commentary: Book Thirteen Love Poems III 793

Headnote: "Composed as a love poem at a poetry contest held at my house when I was a Middle Captain"
Composed as a love poem at a poetry contest Toshitada held at his house when he was a Middle Captain. My love, he says, is ever tangled like the seaweed the fisherfolk cut, the grass beneath the waves that never has time to dry. He overlays a heart tangled in love on the cut seaweed lying in disarray, and a self ever wet with tears on grass sunk beneath the waves that never dries, entrusting to the things of the shore a lament of love without end.
The author, "Provisional Middle Counselor Toshitada," was the son of Provisional Major Counselor Fujiwara no Tadaie. He rose to Provisional Middle Counselor and often held poetry contests and gatherings at his house. He was the father of Fujiwara no Shunzei, compiler of this anthology.

First line, "waga koi wa": "my love," stating the theme of the whole poem.
Second line, "ama no karu mo ni": "like the seaweed the fisherfolk cut," leading through cut seaweed lying in disarray into "midare" in the third line.
Third line, "midaretsutsu": "tsutsu" expresses repeated or continuing action, "ever tangled."
Fourth line, "kawaku toki naki": "with never a time to dry," a self ever wet with tears.
Fifth line, "nami no shitakusa": the poem ends on a noun, the grass sunk beneath the waves. It answers "waga koi wa" in the first line, likening love itself to grass beneath the waves.
Author: Fujiwara no Toshitada
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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