Tomihito no ie no kodomo no kiru mi nami kutashi sutsuramu kinuwatara wa mo

富人の家の子どもの着る身なみ
腐し捨つらむ絹綿らはも

Roma-ji: Tomihito no ie no kodomo no kiru mi nami kutashi sutsuramu kinuwatara wa mo
English Translation: In the rich men's homes
the children have so much, they lack
bodies to wear it all —
left to rot and thrown away,
ah, the silks and floss of theirs!
Meaning: Ah, the silks and floss that the children of rich households, having more than they can wear, must leave to rot and throw away!
Commentary: Book Five Miscellaneous Poems 900

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Seven poems on suffering for years from grave illness in old age, and on thinking of my children: one long, six short"
The poet thinks of the silk and floss that the children of rich families, unable to wear it all, must leave to rot and throw away. Through the contrast with his own children, who have nothing to wear, he sharply expresses a lament at the world's inequity.
This is one of the tanka among seven poems on suffering for years from grave illness in old age and on thinking of one's children; the seven consist of one long poem and six tanka. The long poem laments that although one would wish life to be peaceful to its end, illness has been added to old age, so that the poet sighs by day and groans by night, and though he thinks of dying he cannot bring himself to abandon his noisy children. The left note dates it to the third day of the sixth month of Tenpyō 5.
The poet, Yamanoue no Okura, was an official who went to Tang China as a junior secretary with the embassy appointed in Taihō 1. After his return he served as Governor of Hōki and in the household of the Crown Prince, and late in the Jinki era he was posted to Tsukushi as Governor of Chikuzen. He is known for poems rooted in everyday life, on the sufferings of human existence, love for family, and poverty, written against a background of learning in Chinese classics and Buddhist scripture.

First line, "tomihito no": "of the rich," set against the poverty of the next poem.
Second line, "ie no kodomo no": the children of wealthy households.
Third line, "kiru mi nami": "nami" means "since there is no": having more than bodies to wear it.
Fourth line, "kutashi sutsuramu": "must be letting it rot and discarding it"; "ramu" conjectures about what is out of sight.
Fifth line, "kinuwatara wa mo": "wa mo" exclaims, closing on a noun that pictures the silk and floss overflowing in rich homes. It pairs with "cloth robes" in the next poem.
Author: Yamanoue no Okura
Source: Manyoshu
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