Omoi areba tsuyu wa tamoto ni magau tomo aki no hajime o tare ni towamashi - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

思ひあれば露は袂にまがふとも
秋のはじめを誰に問はまし

Roma-ji: Omoi areba tsuyu wa tamoto ni magau tomo aki no hajime o tare ni towamashi
English Translation: Since I have my grief,
though the dew upon my sleeves
may blend with my tears,
of the coming of the autumn,
whom, then, am I to ask?
Meaning: Because I am lost in grief, the dew on my sleeves may be indistinguishable from tears—so whom should I ask whether autumn has begun?
Commentary: Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Poems I 1496

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
This is the first poem of the sequence on early autumn. Because of her grief, the dew on her sleeves may be indistinguishable from tears, and the poet wonders whom she should ask whether autumn has begun. The headnote reads "topic unknown," and records nothing of the circumstances of composition.
The author, "Shichijō-in no Dainagon," was a lady-in-waiting who served Shichijō-in, the mother of Retired Emperor Go-Toba.

The first line, "omoi areba," means "because I have grief." It opens with the same word as "omoi araba," the first line of the preceding poem, turning supposition into fixed condition.
The second line, "tsuyu wa tamoto ni," refers to autumn dew settling on the sleeves. As the first poem moving from summer to autumn, it presents dew, a thing of autumn.
The third line, "magau tomo," means "even though they cannot be told apart." It describes the tears of grief and the autumn dew mingling on the sleeves.
The fourth line, "aki no hajime o," refers to the arrival of autumn. Since tears and dew cannot be distinguished, she cannot tell for herself whether autumn has come.
In the last line, "tare ni towamashi," "mashi" expresses hesitation. It shows in the form of a question the lament that, though she would know autumn by the dew, it cannot be told apart from her tears.
Author: Dainagon of Shichijoin
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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