Shirotae no sode no wakare ni tsuyu ochite mi ni shimu iro no akikaze zo fuku - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

白妙の袖の別れに露落ちて
身にしむ色の秋風ぞ吹く

Roma-ji: Shirotae no sode no wakare ni tsuyu ochite mi ni shimu iro no akikaze zo fuku
English Translation: White as mulberry cloth,
our sleeves part at dawn, and dew
falls upon them both;
a color that pierces me—
the autumn wind is blowing
Meaning: As we part our white sleeves at dawn, tears fall like dew, and an autumn wind blows, carrying a color that pierces me to the bone.
Commentary: Book Fifteen Love Poems V 1336

Headnote: "Composed for the Minase Poetry Contest on Fifteen Love Topics."
This is the first poem of the dew sequence and the opening poem of Book Fifteen. At the parting after a night together, tears fall like dew, and an autumn wind blows with a color that pierces the body. According to the headnote, it was presented at the Minase Poetry Contest on Fifteen Love Topics.
The author, "Fujiwara no Teika Ason," is Teika, son of Fujiwara no Shunzei. He was one of the compilers of the Shin Kokinshū and later compiled the Shin Chokusenshū alone.
The Minase Poetry Contest on Fifteen Love Topics was held by Retired Emperor Go-Toba at his Minase detached palace in the ninth month of Kennin 2 (1202), with fifteen love topics set for competition.
The fourth and last lines draw on a poem in the Kokin Waka Rokujō: "Fukikureba / mi ni mo shimikeru / akikaze o / iro naki mono to / omoikeru kana" ("Blowing, it pierces me—this autumn wind I had thought had no color at all"). This poem grants a color to the autumn wind long held to be colorless.

The first line, "shirotae no," is a pillow word for "sleeve." Whiteness is set down first, answering the "color" of the fourth line.
The second line, "sode no wakare ni," means parting the sleeves laid together through the night, that is, the parting at dawn.
In the third line, "tsuyu ochite," the dew stands for tears. With this poem the dew sequence begins.
The fourth line, "mi ni shimu iro no," means "of a color that pierces the body." The autumn wind, conventionally colorless, is given a color. The grief of parting makes even the wind seem tinged.
The last line, "akikaze zo fuku," closes the kakari-musubi of the particle "zo" with the attributive form "fuku." Autumn is placed here as the season that suggests love's waning, showing that Book Fifteen, devoted to the end of love, opens with autumn imagery.
Author: Fujiwara no Teika
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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