Shikimi tsumu yamaji no tsuyu ni nurenikeri akatsuki oki no sumizome no sode - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

樒摘む山路の露に濡れにけり
暁起きの墨染の袖

Roma-ji: Shikimi tsumu yamaji no tsuyu ni nurenikeri akatsuki oki no sumizome no sode
English Translation: Gathering star-anise
on the mountain path, the dew
has soaked me through—
rising well before the dawn,
sleeves of ink-black robes.
Meaning: Gathering star-anise on the mountain path before dawn, I find them soaked with dew—the sleeves of my ink-black robe.
Commentary: Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems II 1666

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On the spirit of a mountain dwelling, when I presented a hundred-poem sequence."
This is the third poem of the sequence on mountain dwellings and mountain paths. Rising before dawn to gather star-anise, she finds the sleeves of her ink-black robe soaked with the dew of the mountain path. According to the headnote, it was composed on the topic of a mountain dwelling when she presented a hundred-poem sequence.
The author, "Kojijū," was a daughter of Ki no Mitsukiyo, superintendent of the Iwashimizu Hachiman Shrine. She was called "Kojijū of the Waiting Night."

The first line, "shikimi tsumu," means "gathering star-anise" to offer before the Buddha.
The second line, "yamaji no tsuyu ni," means "in the dew of the mountain path." Like "shiranu yamaji no" in 1664 in this book, it sings of the dew of the mountain path.
The third line, "nurenikeri," means "they have become soaked." "Keri" expresses exclamation at a realization, and the poem breaks here after the third line.
The fourth line, "akatsuki oki no," means "of one who rises before dawn" for devotions.
The last line, "sumizome no sode," ends in a noun, closing on the sleeves of a monastic robe. Following "koke fukaki sode" of the preceding poem, it likewise closes on sleeves. Upon the sleeves wet with dew is laid the quiet feeling of a life of devotion.
Author: Kojiju
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
Prev Poem: Ima wa ware matsu no hashira no sugi no io ni tozubeki mono o koke fukaki sode
Next Poem: Wasureji no hito dani towanu yamaji kana sakura wa yuki ni furikawaredomo