Sode ni oku tsuyu o ba tsuyu to shinobu tomo nareyuku tsuki ya iro o shiru ramu - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

袖に置く露をば露と忍ぶとも
馴れゆく月や色を知るらむ

Roma-ji: Sode ni oku tsuyu o ba tsuyu to shinobu tomo nareyuku tsuki ya iro o shiru ramu
English Translation: Though I may hide
the dew that lies upon my sleeves,
calling it mere dew,
does the moon, grown dear to me,
know the color it truly has?
Meaning: Though I hide the dew on my sleeves, calling it nothing but dew, does the moon, which grows ever more familiar, know its true color?
Commentary: Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Poems III 1758

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On the feeling of personal grievance, at the Poetry Office."
This is the second of the sequence composed at the Poetry Office on personal grievance. Though he hides the tears on his sleeves from others as mere dew, the moon he comes to know night after night must know their color. It tells of a heart whose hidden sorrow only the moon perceives.
The author, "Intendant of the Right Gate Guards Michitomo," is Minamoto no Michitomo. A son of Minamoto no Michichika, he was one of the compilers of the Shin Kokinshū.
The Poetry Office was established by Retired Emperor Go-Toba at his palace in Kennin 1 for the compilation of the Shin Kokinshū.

The first line, "sode ni oku," means "settling on the sleeves." Dew on the sleeves stands for tears.
The second line, "tsuyu o ba tsuyu to," means "the dew of tears, as mere dew." Repeating the word shows him passing off tears as dew.
The third line, "shinobu tomo," means "though I hide it." "Tomo" marks a concessive supposition.
In the fourth line, "nareyuku tsuki ya," meaning "the moon I grow familiar with night after night," "ya" is a particle of question.
The last line, "iro o shiru ramu," closes the kakari-musubi of "ya" with the attributive form of the present conjectural "ramu." "Color" is the hue of tears of grief, said to be tears of blood, showing that only the moon knows the depth of his sorrow.
Author: Minamoto no Michitomo
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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