Mi o shireba hito no toga to wa omowanu ni uramigao ni mo nururu sode kana - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

身を知れば人の咎とは思はぬに
恨み顔にも濡るる袖かな

Roma-ji: Mi o shireba hito no toga to wa omowanu ni uramigao ni mo nururu sode kana
English Translation: Knowing who I am,
I think it is not the fault
of the one I love,
yet with a look of reproach
my sleeves are soaked through with tears
Meaning: Because I know my own place, I do not think it is my beloved's fault—and yet, as if reproaching, my sleeves are soaked with tears.
Commentary: Book Thirteen Love Poems III 1231

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown."
This is the twelfth poem of the sequence on resenting a cold-hearted lover and enduring the pain. Knowing his own place, he does not think it the beloved's fault, yet his sleeves are soaked as if in reproach. The original text gives no author's name, and the poem is Saigyō's, continuing from the preceding poem. The headnote also continues "Topic unknown" from the preceding poem, and the circumstances of composition are not recorded.
The author, "Saigyō Hōshi," was named Satō Norikiyo in lay life and served as a guard of the North Quarter under Retired Emperor Toba, but took holy orders in his youth and became a poet-monk. He traveled through many provinces and left a great number of poems.

The first line, "mi o shireba," means "since I know my own place." Taking up "kazu naranu," "of no account," of the preceding poem, it admits that he is of no importance.
The second line, "hito no toga to wa," means "that it is my beloved's fault."
The third line, "omowanu ni," means "though I do not think so," with "ni" concessive. Where the preceding poem pleaded that this grief does not come from his station, this one says that knowing his place, he does not blame the beloved.
The fourth line, "uramigao ni mo," means "with a look of reproach." Though his heart does not reproach, the tears on his sleeves seem to show reproach.
The last line, "nururu sode kana," means "how my sleeves are soaked," closing with the exclamatory "kana." Dividing heart from sleeve, it sings of tears that cannot be held back, soaking the sleeves as if in reproach against a heart that would not resent.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
Prev Poem: Aware tote hito no kokoro no nasake are na kazu naranu ni wa yoranu nageki o
Next Poem: Yoshi saraba nochi no yo to dani tanome oke tsurasa ni taenu mi to mo koso nare