Komanishiki himo tokiakete yūbe dani shirazu aru inochi koitsutsu ka aramu

高麗錦紐解き開けて夕だに
知らずある命恋ひつつかあらむ

Roma-ji: Komanishiki himo tokiakete yūbe dani shirazu aru inochi koitsutsu ka aramu
English Translation: Untie, open wide
the cord of Koma brocade;
not even this evening
do I know if I will live,
so can I just go on longing
Meaning: Let me untie the cord of Koma brocade; for with a life that cannot know even if it will see this evening, how can I go on merely longing?
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2406

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing One's Feelings Directly"
Hoping to untie the Koma-brocade cord and meet, the speaker asks how one can merely go on longing when life is so fleeting that one cannot know whether one will live even until evening. Invoking the frailty of life, it presses an urgent wish to meet at once. Interpretations vary, but at its heart is a longing to fulfill love precisely because life is limited.
It shares the phrase "komanishiki himo tokiake" with the preceding poem. Where the preceding poem lamented that rumors arose though the cords had not been untied, this one seeks to untie them and meet, so the same phrase is used with feelings turned in a different direction.
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, "komanishiki": a pillow word attached to "cord." It is the same word as in the third line of the preceding poem and binds the two poems together.
Second line, "himo tokiakete": "untying and opening the cord," signifying sleeping together; it is almost the same line as the fourth line of the preceding poem.
Third line, "yūbe dani": "even this evening." The particle "dani" marks a bare minimum, stressing that one cannot know even what will happen so soon.
Fourth line, "shirazu aru inochi": "a life that does not know," a fleeting life uncertain of lasting even until evening. The line has an extra syllable.
Fifth line, "koitsutsu ka aramu": "can I go on merely longing?" The particle "ka" makes a rhetorical question, ending with "mu" in the attributive form. "Tsutsu" expresses continuing action.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection
Source: Manyoshu
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