Natsubiki no tebiki no ito o kurikaeshi koto shigeku tomo taemu to omou na - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

夏引きの手引きの糸を繰り返し
言繁くとも絶えむと思ふな

Roma-ji: Natsubiki no tebiki no ito o kurikaeshi koto shigeku tomo taemu to omou na
English Translation: Like the summer thread
drawn out by hand and wound,
wound again and again—
though the talk be thick, do not
think our bond will ever break.
Meaning: Like hand-drawn summer thread wound over and over, though rumors arise again and again, do not think that our bond will ever be broken.
Commentary: Book Fourteen Love Poems IV 703

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
Said to have been composed by the palace attendant in reply to the preceding poem, it encourages her lover: however much gossip arises, their bond will not break. Using a woman's handwork of winding thread as a preface, it runs through the whole poem with words associated with thread, "kurikaeshi" (winding again) and "tae" (breaking).
The author is given in the original as "anonymous," but one account names "the palace attendant from Ōmi," and a left note says, "This poem, it is said, was composed and presented in reply." Taking up "koto no shigekemu" of the preceding poem as "koto shigeku tomo," it answers the sovereign's unease with the steadiness of their bond.

The first line, "natsubiki no," refers to drawing thread from cocoons in summer and is a pillow word for "ito" (thread).
The second line, "tebiki no ito o," refers to thread spun by hand; up to here the lines form a preface to "kurikaeshi" in the third line.
The third line, "kurikaeshi," overlays the act of winding thread with "again and again."
The fourth line, "koto shigeku tomo," means "even if the talk grows thick," answering "koto no shigekemu" at the end of the preceding poem.
The final line, "taemu to omou na," means "do not think it will break," "tae" being an associated word of thread, closing with the prohibitive "na."
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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Next Poem: Satobito no koto wa natsuno no shigeku tomo kareyuku kimi ni awazarame ya wa