Akarahiku hada mo furezute inuredomo kokoro o ke ni wa waga omowanaku ni

赤らひく肌も触れずて寐ぬれども
心を異には我が思はなくに

Roma-ji: Akarahiku hada mo furezute inuredomo kokoro o ke ni wa waga omowanaku ni
English Translation: Though I lay with you
and touched not your glowing skin,
you the rosy-hued,
it is not that in my heart
I have thought of someone else
Meaning: Though I slept without even touching your rosy skin, it is not that my heart has turned to anyone else.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2399

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing One's Feelings Directly"
The speaker spent a night lying beside the beloved without touching her skin, and protests that this was not because his heart had changed. Fearing that she might doubt him for having slept without touching her, he reveals his unaltered feeling.
In poem 2389 of this book "akarahiku" modified "morning," but here it modifies "skin," suggesting youthful, glowing skin. Following the poems lamenting gossip up to the preceding one, this poem too takes the form of asserting the sincerity of the heart toward the beloved.
The author is unknown; according to the left note, the poem comes from the Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection. That collection is thought to contain both Hitomaro's own poems and poems by others that he recorded. Kakinomoto no Hitomaro was a court poet active in the reigns of Empress Jito and Emperor Monmu, and is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "akarahiku": a pillow word attached to "skin." Meaning glowing with red, it calls up youthful, healthy skin.
Second line, "hada mo furezute": "without touching even your skin." "Zute" is the negative "zu" with the conjunctive "te," describing his not touching her.
Third line, "inuredomo": "though I slept." "I" means sleep and "nu" is the verb to lie down; the concessive "domo" leads to the defense in the second half.
Fourth line, "kokoro o ke ni wa": "my heart elsewhere, to another." The particle "wa" singles out the idea of a change of heart in order to deny it.
Fifth line, "waga omowanaku ni": "I do not think so." "Naku ni" is the nominalized negative "zu" with "ni," closing the poem as a plea to the beloved.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection
Source: Manyoshu
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