Shiratama ka tsuyu ka to towamu hito mo gana mono omou sode o sashite kotaemu - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

白玉か露かと問はむ人もがな
物思ふ袖をさして答へむ

Roma-ji: Shiratama ka tsuyu ka to towamu hito mo gana mono omou sode o sashite kotaemu
English Translation: "Are they pearls or dew?"—
if only someone would ask,
then I would reply
by pointing to my sleeves
soaked in the tears of longing.
Meaning: If only someone would ask me, "Are those white pearls, or dew?" Then I would answer by pointing to my sleeves, wet with the tears of longing.
Commentary: Book Twelve Love Poems II 1112

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
This is the third of three poems on dew and tears. The speaker wishes someone would ask, "Pearls or dew?", so that he could answer by pointing to sleeves wet with the tears of longing. The headnote gives no topic, and the circumstances of composition are not recorded.
The author is Fujiwara no Motozane, a poet of the mid-Heian period, counted among the Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals.
The poem draws on the Tales of Ise, episode 6: "When she asked, 'Are those white pearls, or what?' I should have answered 'dew' and vanished like it."

The first line, "shiratama ka," means "are they white pearls," "shiratama" being pearls. It is the same as the first line of the poem in the Tales of Ise.
The second line, "tsuyu ka to towamu," means "who would ask, is it dew?" Taking up the dew of the preceding poems, dew continues as a figure for tears.
The third line, "hito mo gana," means "if only there were someone," with "mogana" expressing a wish. The poem breaks after the third line.
The fourth line, "mono omou sode o," means "my sleeves wet with the tears of longing."
The last line, "sashite kotaemu," means "I would answer by pointing," with "mu" expressing intention. Where the Tales of Ise regretted not answering "dew" and vanishing, here the speaker would rather be asked, ready to show on his sleeves tears that look like both pearls and dew.
Author: Fujiwara no Motozane
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
Prev Poem: Chirasu na yo shino no hagusa no kari ni te mo tsuyu kakarubeki sode no ue ka wa
Next Poem: Itsu made mo inochi mo shiranu yo no naka ni tsuraki nageki no yamazu mo aru kana