Waga seko ga keseru koromo no harime ochizu irinikerashi mo aga kokoro sae

我が背子が着せる衣の針目おちず
入りにけらしも我が心さへ

Roma-ji: Waga seko ga keseru koromo no harime ochizu irinikerashi mo aga kokoro sae
English Translation: The robe that you wear,
O my dearest, in its seams,
every single stitch,
it seems has been sewn into,
even this my heart as well
Meaning: Into every stitch of the robe you wear, my love, it seems my very heart has been sewn along with the thread.
Commentary: Book Four Love Poems 514

Headnote: "A poem by Abe no Iratsume"
Against the background of having sewn the robe her lover wears, the poet says that her very heart seems to have been stitched into every seam. She overlays her love on the work of sewing, delicately expressing a wish always to be close to him. The poems that follow are an exchange between Nakatomi no Azumahito and Abe no Iratsume, and words of needlework such as robe, cord, and thread bind the sequence together.
The author, Abe no Iratsume, was a woman poet of around the early Nara period, apparently of the Abe clan, though little else is known of her.

First line, "The robe that you wear," begins with "my dearest," calling her lover with affection.
Second line, "O my dearest, in its seams," uses keseru, the honorific kesu, "to wear," with the stative ri: the robe you are wearing.
Third line, "every single stitch," means every seam without exception; its extra syllable conveys her careful tracing of the fine stitches.
Fourth line, "it seems has been sewn into," uses kerashi, a past inference: it seems to have entered. The poem breaks after this line.
Fifth line, "even this my heart as well," uses sae, "even": not only the thread but my heart too. By inversion the heart comes last, impressing the depth of her feeling.
Author: Lady Abe
Source: Manyoshu
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