Shirotae no a ga shitagoromo ushinawazu motere waga seko tada ni au made ni

白栲の我が下衣失はず
持てれ我が背子直に逢ふまでに

Roma-ji: Shirotae no a ga shitagoromo ushinawazu motere waga seko tada ni au made ni
English Translation: This white undergarment,
this shift of mine,
do not lose it, keep it,
my dear husband,
until we meet face to face
Meaning: Keep this white undergarment of mine, my dear husband, and do not lose it, until we meet face to face.
Commentary: Book Fifteen Exchange Poems of Nakatomi no Yakamori and Sano no Otogami no Otome 3751

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Poems exchanged between Nakatomi no Ason Yakamori and Sano no Otogami no Otome"
She asks Yakamori to keep her white undergarment without losing it, until the day they meet face to face. A garment one wore was thought to hold the wearer's spirit, and entrusting her undergarment expresses her wish to be by her husband's side in its stead. In the first half of the book, 3584 by an envoy's wife likewise asks him to wear her robe beneath his clothes and ends with the same line, "tada ni au made ni," so the hearts of parted wives overlap across the two halves of the book.
The author, Sano no Otogami no Otome, was a lady-in-waiting of low rank known as a nyoju, serving in the palace storehouse office; she is also written Sano no Chigami no Otome.
A left note reads "the above nine poems are by the young woman"; the nine poems from 3745 to 3753 of this book were sent by the young woman in answer to Yakamori's poems. The latter half of this book contains sixty-three poems exchanged between Nakatomi no Yakamori and Sano no Otogami no Otome. According to the book's table of contents, when Yakamori took as his wife the young woman, a lady-in-waiting of the palace storehouse office, he was exiled to Echizen Province by imperial decree. The place of exile is thought to be Ajimano in Echizen, near present-day Echizen City, Fukui Prefecture.

First line, "shirotae no": white bark-cloth, a pillow word for garments.
Second line, "a ga shitagoromo": "shitagoromo" is an undergarment, one the young woman herself had worn.
Third line, "ushinawazu": without losing it.
Fourth line, "motere waga seko": "motere" is a command, keep it; "waga seko" addresses her husband. The poem breaks after the fourth line.
Fifth line, "tada ni au made ni": "tada ni" means directly: until the day we meet face to face, setting a limit at the close. The same last line as in 3584 of this book.
Author: Sano no Otogami no Otome
Source: Manyoshu
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