Shirotae no waga koromode ni tsuyu wa oki imo wa awasazu tayutai ni shite

白栲の我が衣手に露は置き
妹は逢はさずたゆたひにして

Roma-ji: Shirotae no waga koromode ni tsuyu wa oki imo wa awasazu tayutai ni shite
English Translation: Upon my white sleeves,
white as cloth of mulberry,
the dew has settled,
but my love will not meet me,
wavering and hesitant
Meaning: The dew has settled on my white sleeves, yet my beloved will not come to meet me, wavering and holding back.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2690

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Feelings through Things"
Though he waits with his sleeves wet with night dew, his beloved only hesitates and will not meet him: such is the lament of this poem. Since he calls her "imo," it is taken as a man's poem, expressing the helplessness of a man left standing outside.
In this sequence on dew, the poem shares almost the same words, "on my white sleeves the dew settles," with poem 2688. There a woman, though soaked with dew, would not go inside as she waited for a man; here it is a man soaked with dew who waits for a woman, reversing the roles of the one who waits and the one awaited.
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, "shirotae no": a pillow word attached to "sleeve." The white cloth of shirotae also suggests the whiteness of the sleeves on which the dew lies.
Second line, "waga koromode ni": "on my sleeves." Koromode means sleeve.
Third line, "tsuyu wa oki": "the dew settles," in the continuative form that carries on to what follows; it shows that he has stood outside long into the night.
Fourth line, "imo wa awasazu": "my love will not deign to meet me." "Sa" is the irrealis of the honorific "su"; by showing respect to the woman it conveys his frustration with someone beyond his control.
Fifth line, "tayutai ni shite": "wavering as she is." Tayutau is a verb for a heart that sways without settling, expressing the woman's indecision; ending on "ni shite" leaves a lingering resonance.
Source: Manyoshu
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