Ika ni semu Ise no hamaogi migakurete omowanu iso no nami ni kuchinaba - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

いかにせむ伊勢の浜荻みがくれて
思はぬ磯の波に朽ちなば

Roma-ji: Ika ni semu Ise no hamaogi migakurete omowanu iso no nami ni kuchinaba
English Translation: What am I to do?
Like the beach reeds of Ise
hidden by the water,
if I should rot in the waves
of a shore I never sought...
Meaning: What am I to do? If, like the beach reeds of Ise hidden beneath the water, I should rot away in the waves of an unlooked-for shore...
Commentary: Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems II 1089

Headnote: "Sent to Archbishop Gyōson when I asked to decline being made governor of Ise in the appointments"
When he declined his appointment as governor of Ise in the appointments, he sent this poem to Archbishop Gyōson. What am I to do, if like the beach reeds of Ise hidden in the water I should rot in the waves of an unlooked-for shore, he says. Fearing that if he went down to an unwanted distant post he would be hidden far from the capital and buried away like reeds rotting in the waves, he entrusts to the famous place of Ise his reasons for declining the post.
The author, "Minamoto no Toshishige," was a son of Minamoto no Toshiyori and a brother of Shun'e. Gyōson was a son of Minamoto no Motohira, known as a mountain ascetic and also a poet.
The next poem, 1090, is by the author's father, Minamoto no Toshiyori, so poems by father and son stand side by side. Like 1063 of this book, it also laments a matter of official appointment.

First line, "ika ni semu": "what am I to do?" The poem pauses here.
Second line, "Ise no hamaogi": the reeds growing on the shores of Ise, sung as a famous place of Ise. It points to the province of Ise to which he was appointed and stands for the poet himself.
Third line, "migakurete": "mi" is a pivot word joining "mi," water, and "mi," self, overlapping reeds hidden by the water and himself hidden from the capital.
Fourth line, "omowanu iso no": "of a shore I never thought of," a figure for the unwanted post.
Fifth line, "nami ni kuchinaba": "na" is the irrealis of the perfective "nu," and with "ba" it forms a supposition, "if I should rot in the waves." It closes by returning to the lament of the first line.
Author: Minamoto no Toshishige
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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