Hitome moru kimi ga manimani ware sae ni hayaku okitsutsu mo no suso nurenu

人目守る君がまにまに我れさへに
早く起きつつ裳の裾濡れぬ

Roma-ji: Hitome moru kimi ga manimani ware sae ni hayaku okitsutsu mo no suso nurenu
English Translation: You who watch for eyes,
just as you would have it be,
I too, along with you,
have risen early, and now
the hem of my skirt is wet
Meaning: Following your wish, you who are so wary of watching eyes, I too rose early, and the hem of my skirt has become wet.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2563

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing One's Feelings Directly"
Matching the lover who, wary of others' eyes, leaves early in the morning, the speaker too rises early, and while seeing him off the hem of her skirt grows wet. This is a morning-after poem depicting the parting after a night together, calling up the image of a woman seeing off her lover with her hem wet in the dawn dew.
It sings of the constraints of a love that must avoid people's eyes, from the side of a woman who follows her lover's lead. "Shigeki ma morite" in poem 2561, two before this one, and "hitome moru" here share the same word "moru," so poems about watching the world's eyes continue.
The author is unknown. The anonymous poems of Book Eleven gather love poems by people whose names have not come down to us.

First line, "hitome moru": "watching for people's eyes." "Moru" means to keep watch, showing the lover's care not to be seen.
Second line, "kimi ga manimani": "just as you wish." "Manimani" describes following another's will.
Third line, "ware sae ni": "I too." The particle "sae" adds the speaker, expressing "not only you but I as well."
Fourth line, "hayaku okitsutsu": "rising early." The particle "tsutsu" expresses a continuing action, picturing her rising at dawn to see him off.
Fifth line, "mo no suso nurenu": "the hem of my skirt is wet." The perfective auxiliary "nu" closes the statement, conveying the lingering trace of sending the lover away.
Source: Manyoshu
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