Kado tatete to wa sashitaredo nusubito no horeru ana yori irite miekemu

門立てて戸は閉したれど盗人の
穿れる穴より入りて見えけむ

Roma-ji: Kado tatete to wa sashitaredo nusubito no horeru ana yori irite miekemu
English Translation: You closed the gate
and shut the door up tight, but
through the hole
a thief had dug, I'd guess,
I slipped in to be seen
Meaning: You closed the gate and shut the door, but I must have slipped in through a hole some thief had dug, and so appeared to you.
Commentary: Book Twelve Dialogue Poems 3118

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Dialogue Poems"
A woman playfully answers the preceding question: though the gate and door were shut, she must have slipped in through a hole a thief had dug. Replying with the same opening line, it makes for a humorous exchange.
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, "kado tatete," means "closing the gate," answering with the same opening as the preceding poem.
Line two, "to wa sashitaredo," means "though the door was shut."
Line three, "nusubito no," means "a thief's."
Line four, "horeru ana yori," means "through the hole dug."
Line five, "irite miekemu," means "I must have come in and appeared," playfully answering the man's wonder by saying she came through a thief's hole.
Author: Unknown
Source: Manyoshu
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