Shirotae no sode fureteshi yo waga seko ni aga kouraku wa yamu toki mo nashi

白栲の袖触れてし夜我が背子に
我が恋ふらくはやむ時もなし

Roma-ji: Shirotae no sode fureteshi yo waga seko ni aga kouraku wa yamu toki mo nashi
English Translation: Since the night our sleeves
of white cloth brushed each other,
for my own dear man
this longing that I feel
knows no moment of ceasing
Meaning: Ever since the night our white sleeves touched, my longing for my dear man has never once ceased.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2612

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing One's Feelings Directly"
Ever since the night their sleeves touched, her longing for her lover has never ceased: this is a love poem. Because it addresses "waga seko," it is taken as a woman's poem, and it plainly states how a single night together became the beginning of an unending love.
The pairing of "shirotae no" with "sode" matches the first two lines of poem 2609 in this book, and together with the pillowing arm of the preceding poem, 2611, poems that entrust the memory of shared nights to what one wears continue. Where 2609 tells, in a man's voice, of waving his sleeves without rest, this poem tells, in a woman's voice, of a love that has lasted since the night their sleeves touched.
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, "shirotae no": a pillow word attached to sleeves and robes, here to "sode" in the second line.
Second line, "sode fureteshi yo": "the night our sleeves touched." "Te" is the continuative form of the perfective auxiliary "tsu," and "shi" is the attributive form of the past auxiliary "ki," recalling vividly a night now past. The touching of sleeves is a discreet way of speaking of a night spent together.
Third line, "waga seko ni": "for my dear man." "Seko" is a woman's affectionate term for her husband or lover.
Fourth line, "aga kouraku wa": "my longing." "Kouraku" is the nominalized form of the verb "kou," to long for, singled out by the particle "wa."
Fifth line, "yamu toki mo nashi": "has no moment of ceasing." It declares that from that night until now the longing has never paused.
Source: Manyoshu
Prev Poem: Ima sara ni kimi ga tamakura makinemeya waga himo no o no toketsutsu motona
Next Poem: Yūke ni mo ura ni mo noreru koyoi dani kimasanu kimi o itsu to ka matamu