Iwa orosu kata koso nakere Ise no umi no shiose ni kakaru ama no tsuribune - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

いはおろすかたこそなけれ伊勢の海の
潮瀬にかかる海人の釣舟

Roma-ji: Iwa orosu kata koso nakere Ise no umi no shiose ni kakaru ama no tsuribune
English Translation: There is no way at all
to let the stone anchor down:
on the sea of Ise,
caught amid the tidal rush,
the fishers' little boats
Meaning: There is nowhere to let down the anchor stone: the fishermen's boats caught in the racing tides of the sea of Ise.
Commentary: Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Poems I 1043

Headnote: "Composed on the topic "Fishing boats," which I drew, when the courtiers of the same reign drew topics by lot and presented poems"
In the same reign of Emperor Horikawa, when the courtiers drew topics by lot and presented poems, he drew "fishing boats" and composed this poem. There is no place to let down the anchor stone, the fishermen's boats caught in the tidal rush of the sea of Ise, he says. In the rough tidal waters of Ise, with nowhere to drop anchor and moor, the fishermen's boats drift on the tide as they fish, and he depicts their precarious state.
The author, "Provisional Middle Counselor Toshitada," is Fujiwara no Toshitada. A son of Fujiwara no Tadaie, he rose to provisional middle counselor. He was the father of Fujiwara no Shunzei.
It shares the fifth line, "ama no tsuribune," with 1048 of this book, and is also close to "oki no tsuribune" in the fifth line of 1049 in singing of fishing boats. Where this poem sings of fishing boats tossed in rough tidal rapids, the two later poems sing of fishing boats far off in the hazy offing.

First line, "iwa orosu": "iwa" is understood as a stone sunk in the sea in place of an anchor, "to let down the stone."
Second line, "kata koso nakere": "kata" means place or means. "Koso" is an emphatic binding particle closing with the realis "nakere," "there is nowhere to let it down." The poem pauses here.
Third line, "Ise no umi no": "of the sea of Ise Province."
Fourth line, "shiose ni kakaru": "shiose" is a rapid where the tide flows, and "kakaru" means the boat is held there.
Fifth line, "ama no tsuribune": the fishermen's fishing boats, ending inverted in a noun. It is the same line as the fifth line of 1048 of this book.
Author: Fujiwara no Toshitada
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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