As a sign they say
The cord beneath should come loose
When one is loved so.
Yet my under-cord stays tied—
So you cannot love as said.

Meaning

They say that when someone is loved, the cord of the under-robe comes loose as a sign. Yet my cord has not come undone, so you surely cannot be loving me as you claim.

Commentary

111. One Never Yet Seen

There was a certain man. Someone in the household of a high-ranking woman had died.
The poem is the woman’s reply to the man’s poem, which he sent as if in mourning: “Long ago perhaps / Such a thing may have been said— / Only now I know: / To love someone unseen yet, / One whom I have never met.”

Feeling no sincerity in the love poem sent by a man she had never met, who had delivered it under the pretense of mourning, the woman composed this poem to say that the love he speaks of must surely be a lie.

This poem is included in the Gosen Wakashū as a poem by an anonymous poet.

Source

Ise Monogatari

Other

My longing so deep, Perhaps my soul has gone forth Out from my own body. If late at night you should see it, Bind my soul and hold it fast.
Long ago perhaps Such a thing may have been said— Only now I know: To love someone unseen yet, One whom I have never met.
That I long for you Never again will I say. When the under-cord Comes undone, let people know That alone will tell my love.
From Suma’s shore The smoke where the fisherfolk Burn salt for their trade— The wind blows harshly upon it, Drifting where it never meant.

As a sign they say The cord beneath should come loose When one is loved so. Yet my under-cord stays tied— So you cannot love as said.

As a sign they say
The cord beneath should come loose
When one is loved so.
Yet my under-cord stays tied—
So you cannot love as said.