Au koto wa katano no sato no sasa no io shino ni tsuyu chiru yowa no toko kana - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

逢ふことはかた野の里の笹の庵
しのに露散る夜半の床かな

Roma-ji: Au koto wa katano no sato no sasa no io shino ni tsuyu chiru yowa no toko kana
English Translation: Meeting is so hard,
as its name says, in Katano,
in my bamboo hut,
where the dew falls thick on the reeds
upon my bed at midnight.
Meaning: Meeting you is hard, as the name of Katano village says; in my hut thatched with bamboo grass, the dew of my tears falls thick as on the reeds, over my bed in the depth of night.
Commentary: Book Twelve Love Poems II 1110

Headnote: "When presenting a hundred-poem sequence."
This is the first of three poems on dew and tears. In a bamboo-grass hut at Katano, whose name echoes "hard to meet," the speaker's bed at midnight is wet with tears that fall thick as dew on the reeds. According to the headnote, it was composed when a hundred-poem sequence was presented to Retired Emperor Go-Toba.
The author, "Shunzei, Master of the Empress Dowager's Household," is Fujiwara no Shunzei. The son of Provisional Middle Counselor Fujiwara no Toshitada, he compiled the Senzaishū at the command of Retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa. He was the father of Fujiwara no Teika.
Katano, in Kawachi Province (around Katano and Hirakata, Osaka Prefecture), is a poetic place-name known as an imperial hunting ground and sung with cherry-blossom hunts.

The first line, "au koto wa," means "as for meeting," and runs on to "kata" in the second line.
In the second line, "katano no sato no," "kata" holds both "katashi," hard to meet, and the place-name Katano.
The third line, "sasa no io," is a humble hut thatched with bamboo grass. After "sugi fukeru io" in poem 1108 of this book and the "cedar gate" of the preceding poem, a humble dwelling is sung again.
In the fourth line, "shino ni tsuyu chiru," "shino" holds both "shino," reeds, and "shino ni," thickly and without cease. The reeds are drawn in by association with the bamboo grass, and dew scattering on the reeds is laid over tears falling without end. The next poem also sings of dew on "shino no hagusa," so the two poems are placed side by side through the same image.
The last line, "yowa no toko kana," means "my bed at midnight," with "kana" voicing a sigh. The poem closes on the image of a bed slept in alone, wet with dew, where no meeting comes.
Author: Fujiwara no Shunzei
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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