Oto ni nomi kiku no shiratsuyu yoru wa okite hiru wa omoi ni aezu kenubeshi - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

音にのみきくの白露夜はおきて
昼はおもひにあへず消ぬべし

Roma-ji: Oto ni nomi kiku no shiratsuyu yoru wa okite hiru wa omoi ni aezu kenubeshi
English Translation: Heard only by rumor
like white dew upon the mums
at night I lie awake
and by day in flames of longing
I cannot bear it and must vanish
Meaning: Longing for someone I know only by rumor, I am like the white dew on the chrysanthemum: by night I lie awake as the dew settles, and by day, unable to bear the fire of my longing, I seem about to vanish as the dew fades in the sun.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems I 470

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
This poem likens a love for someone known only by rumor, never yet met, to the white dew on a chrysanthemum. The nature of dew, which settles at night and vanishes by day, is overlaid with the poet's own state: sleepless through the night, and by day so scorched by the fire of longing that he seems about to disappear. Layered with multiple pivot words, it is a technically elaborate poem that delicately conveys the pain of loving someone unseen.
The poet, the monk Sosei, was a son of the Archbishop Henjo, and his lay name was Yoshimine no Harutoshi. After taking vows he lived at Urin-in and at Ryoin-in in Isonokami. He is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "heard only by rumor": oto ni nomi means knowing someone only through hearsay. Like "oto ni kikitsutsu" in poems 473 and 482 of this book, it expresses a love that can only listen to reports and never meet, setting out the theme of love for the unseen.
Second line, "like white dew upon the mums": kiku is a pivot word meaning both "to hear" a rumor and "chrysanthemum." The lament of a love known by hearsay shifts into the autumn image of white dew on the flower.
Third line, "at night I lie awake": oki is a pivot word meaning both the dew "settling" and a person "staying up" without sleep. The line has an extra syllable, and the ache of lying awake all night seeps through.
Fourth line, "and by day in flames of longing": omoi, longing, contains hi, fire, and also echoes the sun of daytime that makes dew vanish. "Settle" and "vanish," words associated with dew, run through the whole poem.
Fifth line, "I cannot bear it and must vanish": the dew disappearing is overlaid with the lover whose very life seems about to fade away from love.
Author: Sosei
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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