Nagekitsutsu masurao no ko no koure koso waga kamiyui no hichite nurekere

嘆きつつますらをのこの恋ふれこそ
我が髪結ひの漬ちてぬれけれ

Roma-ji: Nagekitsutsu masurao no ko no koure koso waga kamiyui no hichite nurekere
English Translation: It is because
a true man, sighing and grieving,
loves me as he does
that my bound and braided hair
is drenched and coming undone.
Meaning: It must be because a man of spirit loves me, sighing as he does, that my bound hair has grown damp and come undone.
Commentary: Book Two Love Poems 118

Headnote: "A poem offered by Lady Toneri in reply"
Drawing on the belief that a knot of hair comes loose when someone is thinking of you, she answers that her hair has come undone precisely because he loves her, sighing.
Against Prince Toneri's lament over a one-sided love, she replies that his love is not one-sided at all but has reached her, turning his lament into joy.
The author, Lady Toneri, is otherwise unknown; she appears to have come from the Toneri clan.

The first line, "nagekitsutsu," takes up "nagekedomo" of the preceding poem.
The second line, "masurao no ko no," means "a true man," taking up "masurao" of the preceding poem.
In the third line, "koure koso," koure is the perfective form: precisely because he loves. Koso is a binding particle that concludes in the perfective kere of the final line.
The fourth line, "waga kamiyui no," means "my bound-up hair."
In the final line, "hichite nurekere," hitsu means to be soaked and nuru is taken to mean the loosening of a hair knot; kere resolves the binding of the third line.
Author: Toneri no Otome
Source: Manyoshu
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