Shiratama no aida aketsutsu nukeru o mo kukuri yosureba nochi mo au mono o

白玉の間開けつつ貫ける緒も
くくり寄すれば後もあふものを

Roma-ji: Shiratama no aida aketsutsu nukeru o mo kukuri yosureba nochi mo au mono o
English Translation: Even the cord on which
white pearls were strung with spaces
left between each one,
if you draw it tight and bind it,
brings them together after
Meaning: Even the cord on which white pearls were strung with gaps between them brings the pearls together in the end, once it is drawn tight and bound.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2448

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Feelings through Things"
Pearls strung with gaps between them come together once the cord is drawn tight: through the cord of pearls, the poem expresses the hope that two lovers kept apart now will surely meet in time. It is a deft metaphor that turns the simple workings of a string of beads into an image of the couple's bond.
The headnote "Expressing Feelings through Things" names a category of poems that voice love through nature or everyday objects. A run of poems on white pearls begins with poem 2445 of this book, and this poem closes that sequence. Whereas the earlier poems likened the beloved herself to a pearl, this one looks at the gaps between the pearls and their coming together, and so speaks of the lovers' reunion.
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, "shiratama no": white pearls, beautiful white gems such as pearls. In the Man'yoshu they often stand for a cherished lover; here the relation between the pearls is laid over the bond between two people.
Second line, "aida aketsutsu": "leaving spaces between them." "Tsutsu" marks a repeated action, the pearls threaded one by one with gaps between, suggesting lovers living apart.
Third line, "nukeru o mo": "nukeru" is "nuku" (to thread) with the continuative auxiliary "ri," meaning "strung and remaining so." "O" is the cord that holds the pearls, and "mo" adds emphasis: "even such a cord."
Fourth line, "kukuri yosureba": "when you bind the cord and draw the pearls together." The realis form with "ba" states a sure condition, a rule that always holds.
Fifth line, "nochi mo au mono o": "au" layers the pearls touching one another with lovers meeting. "Mono o" closes the poem with deep feeling, carrying the sense that they surely ought to meet in the end.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection
Source: Manyoshu
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