Shiru to ieba makura dani sede neshi mono o chiri naranu na no sora ni tatsuramu - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

知るといへば枕だにせで寝しものを
ちりならぬ名の空に立つらむ

Roma-ji: Shiru to ieba makura dani sede neshi mono o chiri naranu na no sora ni tatsuramu
English Translation: Since the pillow knows, they say,
I slept without a pillow,
not even that, and yet
why does my name, which is no dust,
rise up into the empty sky
Meaning: They say the pillow knows our secrets, so I slept without even a pillow; why, then, does my name, which is not dust, rise up into the sky?
Commentary: Book Thirteen Love Poems III 676

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
Because the pillow is said to know love's secrets, the poet was careful enough to sleep without one; so why does her name, which is not dust, rise into the sky? Drawing on the notion of the time that the pillow knows of love, and overlaying dust whirling upward with rumor spreading, it laments a rumor that cannot be prevented, with sharp wit.
The author, recorded as Ise, was a daughter of Fujiwara no Tsugukage and a lady-in-waiting to Empress Onshi, consort of Emperor Uda. She enjoyed Emperor Uda's favor and later bore Nakatsukasa to Prince Atsuyoshi. She is counted among the Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals.
This is the closing poem of the book. Where Narihira's opening poem, 616, sang of a sleepless night, "neither risen up nor sleeping," this one closes by singing of sleep, "slept without a pillow," and the two echo each other. It also shares the idea that the pillow knows of love with poem 670, "a love that no one save my pillow ever knew."

The first line, "shiru to ieba," means "since they say it knows," drawing on the idea that the pillow knows love's secrets.
The second line, "makura dani sede," means "without even a pillow," with dani marking the least instance. It shares the negative de with "nor sleeping" in the opening poem, 616.
The third line, "neshi mono o," means "though I slept so," continuing with the adversative mono o.
The fourth line, "chiri naranu na no," means "my name, which is not dust," implying that dust might naturally rise into the sky.
The final line, "sora ni tatsuramu," means "why does it rise into the sky," overlaying dust rising with a rumor rising, and closing with ramu, conjecturing the cause.
Author: Ise
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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