Karagoromo sode ni hitome wa tsutsumedomo koboruru mono wa namida narikeri - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

唐衣袖に人目はつつめども
こぼるるものは涙なりけり

Roma-ji: Karagoromo sode ni hitome wa tsutsumedomo koboruru mono wa namida narikeri
English Translation: With my Chinese robe's
sleeve I keep it wrapped away
from the eyes of all,
yet what spills out, after all,
is nothing but my tears
Meaning: I keep it wrapped from others' eyes within the sleeve of my Chinese robe, yet what spills out in spite of all, I find, is my tears.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems I 1003

Headnote: "To a woman, on what occasion one cannot say."
This is the third poem of the sequence on hidden love. Though he wraps his feelings from others' eyes in his sleeve, what spills out is tears. The headnote says it was sent to a woman, on an occasion no longer known.
The author, "Kentoku-kō," is Fujiwara no Koretada. The eldest son of Fujiwara no Morosuke, Minister of the Right, he rose to Regent and Chancellor. Kentoku-kō is the posthumous name given him after his death. His personal collection is the Ichijō Sesshō Gyoshū.

The first line, "karagoromo," a robe in Chinese style, is a word of praise for garments that leads to "sode," the sleeve.
The second line, "sode ni hitome wa," means "with my sleeve, from others' eyes." In love poetry the sleeve is often the thing that hides tears.
The third line, "tsutsumedomo," means "though I keep it wrapped," the same third line as in the preceding poem. Where that poem used the stones around a marsh, this one wraps the feeling in something close at hand, the sleeve.
The fourth line, "koboruru mono wa," means "what spills out, unable to be contained."
In the last line, "keri" marks realization: it was tears. The preceding poem ended with the question "ika naru hima ni," and this one answers it with tears, so the two stand like question and answer. 1037, the poem by Kanezane, closes with the same last line, "nao moru mono wa namida narikeri."
Author: Fujiwara no Koretada
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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