Kawachime no tezome no ito o kurikaeshi kataito ni aredo taemu to omoe ya

河内女の手染めの糸を繰り返し
片糸にあれど絶えむと思へや

Roma-ji: Kawachime no tezome no ito o kurikaeshi kataito ni aredo taemu to omoe ya
English Translation: The Kawachi maiden's
thread that she dyed by her hand,
reeling it again—
though it is a single strand,
could I think that it would break?
Meaning: Like the thread a Kawachi woman dyes by hand and reels again and again, I think of you again and again—though mine is but a single strand, do I ever think that it will break?
Commentary: Book Seven Allegorical Poems 1316

Headnote: "On Thread"
Through thread dyed by the hand of a Kawachi woman, the poet says that though this love is one-sided like a single strand, the bond will never be thought of as breaking. Thread stands for the feelings of love, and the poem shows a firm resolve to go on loving even without return.
It is the only poem under the heading "On Thread," and after the preceding group on robes it takes up thread, closely tied to clothing. The poet is unknown.

The first line, "The Kawachi maiden's," refers to a woman of Kawachi Province, a region known for dyeing and weaving.
The second line, "thread that she dyed by her hand," completes a preface that, through the reeling of thread, leads into "reeling it again" in the third line.
The third line, "reeling it again," overlays reeling thread with thinking of the beloved again and again.
The fourth line, "though it is a single strand," uses "kataito," a strand not yet twisted with another, as a figure for one-sided love.
The final line, "could I think that it would break?" is rhetorical, meaning "never," and overlays the breaking of thread with the ending of a bond.
Source: Manyoshu
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