Futari shite musubishi himo o hitori shite are wa tokimiji tada ni au made wa

ふたりして結びし紐をひとりして
我れは解きみじ直に逢ふまでは

Roma-ji: Futari shite musubishi himo o hitori shite are wa tokimiji tada ni au made wa
English Translation: The cord we two
tied together as we parted,
all on my own
I will never once untie
until we meet again
Meaning: The cord we tied together, I will never untie alone until we meet again face to face.
Commentary: Book Twelve Expressing Thoughts Directly 2919

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Thoughts Directly"
The poet vows not to untie alone the cord the two of them tied at parting until they meet again. The contrast of "two" and "one" shows both the loneliness after parting and unchanging love.
The poet is unknown. Book Twelve, titled the second part of "Love Poems Exchanged Old and New," gathers love poems by people whose names have not come down to us, arranged by category.

Line one, "futari shite," means "the two of us together," pairing with "hitori shite" in line three.
Line two, "musubishi himo o," means "the cord we tied together at parting."
Line three, "hitori shite," means "by myself."
Line four, "are wa tokimiji," means "I will not untie it," with "ji" expressing negative intention.
Line five, "tada ni au made wa," means "until we meet face to face," vowing faithfulness until reunion, as in poem 2846 in this book.
Author: Unknown
Source: Manyoshu
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