Tamakura ni kaseru tamoto no tsuyukeki wa akenu to tsuguru namida narikeri - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

手枕に貸せる袂の露けきは
明けぬと告ぐる涙なりけり

Roma-ji: Tamakura ni kaseru tamoto no tsuyukeki wa akenu to tsuguru namida narikeri
English Translation: The sleeve that I lent
for your pillow, arm for pillow,
is wet as with dew—
it is the tears that tell us
the night has broken to dawn
Meaning: The sleeve I lent you as a pillow is wet as if with dew; these are the tears that tell us the night has broken.
Commentary: Book Thirteen Love Poems III 1181

Headnote: "Sent to the Lady of Ko-Hachijō."
This is the fifth poem of the sequence on the feelings of the morning after. The sleeve he lent as a pillow is wet as if with dew, and it proves to be the tears that tell them dawn has come. According to the headnote, it was sent to the Lady of Ko-Hachijō.
The author, "Teiji-in," is Emperor Uda. A son of Emperor Kōkō and father of Emperor Daigo, he is called by the name of Teiji-in, the palace where he lived after abdicating.
There is no settled view as to who the Lady of Ko-Hachijō was. "Miyasundokoro" is a title for an imperial consort who enjoyed the emperor's favor.

The first line, "tamakura ni," means "as a pillow of arms." Like "tamakura naranu makura dani sezu" in 1159 of this book, it refers to resting on the arm of the one lying beside.
The second line, "kaseru tamoto no," means "of the sleeve that I lent," the sleeve of the arm lent as a pillow.
The third line, "tsuyukeki wa," means "that it is wet with dew." It takes up the dampness of the sleeve, as if wet with the dew of dawn.
The fourth line, "akenu to tsuguru," means "that tell us dawn has come." It is normally the cock's crow that announces dawn, but here tears announce it.
The last line, "namida narikeri," means "it was tears," "keri" expressing realization. It is a poem of poetic seeing that identifies the dew on the sleeve as tears of parting, and like the sleeves that would not dry in the preceding poem, a tear-soaked sleeve conveys the sorrow of the morning after.
Author: Emperor Uda
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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