Asanegami ware wa kezuraji uruwashiki kimi ga tamakura furete shi mono o

朝寝髪我れは梳らじうるはしき
君が手枕触れてしものを

Roma-ji: Asanegami ware wa kezuraji uruwashiki kimi ga tamakura furete shi mono o
English Translation: My hair at morning,
tangled from sleep, I won't comb;
for it was my love,
it was your beloved arm
on which it lay as pillow
Meaning: I will not comb my morning hair, tangled from sleep; for it touched the arm of my beloved, which I used as my pillow.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2578

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing One's Feelings Directly"
On the morning after a night spent together, the woman resolves not to comb her sleep-tangled hair. Because it touched the arm of her beloved on which she lay, she wants to leave it as it is, revealing a heart that longs to keep his warmth upon her even after they part.
It belongs to the category "Expressing One's Feelings Directly" and is a morning-after poem about parting after a night of love. Through something as intimate as hair, it portrays a woman's tender affection, and it has long been cherished.
The author is unknown. The anonymous poems of Book Eleven gather the love poems of people whose names have not come down to us.

First line, "asanegami": "hair tangled from morning sleep." It is the object of "kezuraji" in the second line and introduces the poem's subject at the outset.
Second line, "ware wa kezuraji": "I will not comb it." The negative volitional auxiliary "ji" expresses firm resolve, and the poem pauses after the second line. The reason follows in the closing lines, an inverted structure.
Third line, "uruwashiki": "dear, beloved." It modifies "kimi" in the fourth line.
Fourth line, "kimi ga tamakura": "your arm as my pillow." It recalls the night spent together in concrete terms.
Fifth line, "furete shi mono o": "for it touched you." "Shi," the attributive form of the past auxiliary "ki," is followed by the emotive "mono o," ending with a lingering statement of why she will not comb it.
Source: Manyoshu
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