Kaku koimu mono to shiriseba yūbe okite ashita wa kenuru tsuyu naramashi o

かく恋ひむものと知りせば夕置きて
朝は消ぬる露ならましを

Roma-ji: Kaku koimu mono to shiriseba yūbe okite ashita wa kenuru tsuyu naramashi o
English Translation: Had I only known
that love would ache like this,
I would have been
the dew that falls at evening
and vanishes by morning
Meaning: Had I known love would hurt like this, I would rather have been dew that settles at evening and is gone by morning.
Commentary: Book Twelve Expressing Thoughts through Things 3038

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Thoughts through Things"
The poet, had he known love would be so painful, would rather have been dew that settles at evening and vanishes by morning, so great is the pain that one wishes to disappear. From here a series of poems on dew follows, and words pass from this poem into the next, 3039.
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, "kaku koimu," means "to love like this."
Line two, "mono to shiriseba," means "had I known it would be so," a counterfactual corresponding to "mashi" in line five. Poems 2867 and 3143 in this book open on the same idea.
Line three, "yūbe okite," means "settling at evening," read "yūbe okite" in the kana line, a hypermetric line of six syllables.
Line four, "ashita wa kenuru," means "vanishing by morning." The next poem, 3039, opens with "yūbe okite ashita wa kenuru," taking up these third and fourth lines.
Line five, "tsuyu naramashi o," means "I would rather have been dew," showing a suffering so great that one wishes to vanish like dew.
Author: Unknown
Source: Manyoshu
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