Shikishima ya yamato ni wa aranu karakoromo koro mo hezu shite au yoshi mogana - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

敷島や大和にはあらぬ唐衣
ころも経ずして逢ふよしもがな

Roma-ji: Shikishima ya yamato ni wa aranu karakoromo koro mo hezu shite au yoshi mogana
English Translation: Shikishima's land—
not of Yamato's making,
a robe of Cathay:
without a long time passing,
would there were a way to meet!
Meaning: Like a Chinese robe not made in Yamato—would that there were some way for us to meet without letting the days pass by.
Commentary: Book Fourteen Love Poems IV 697

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poem voices the wish to meet right away, without letting the days go by, through the overlapping sounds of "koromo" (robe) and "koro mo" (time too). Bringing in a foreign "Chinese robe" that is not of "Shikishima's Yamato," it leads smoothly into the feeling by means of a preface.
The closing "au yoshi mogana" has the same form as "aku yoshi mogana" in 683 of this book, expressing the wish to meet itself.
The author, "Tsurayuki," is Ki no Tsurayuki. The son of Ki no Mochiyuki, he was one of the compilers of the Kokinshū and wrote its Japanese preface; after serving as governor of Tosa he wrote the Tosa Diary.

The first line, "Shikishima ya," is a pillow word for Yamato.
The second line, "yamato ni wa aranu," means "not of Yamato" and leads to "karakoromo" in the third line.
The third line, "karakoromo," is a Chinese-style robe; up to here the lines form a preface to the homophonous "koro mo" in the fourth line.
The fourth line, "koro mo hezu shite," means "without time passing," "koro mo" being "koro" (time) with the particle "mo," echoing the sound of "koromo" (robe) in the third line.
The final line, "au yoshi mogana," means "if only there were a way to meet," closing with the particle of wishing "mogana."
Author: Ki no Tsurayuki
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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