Shirotae no a ga koromode o torimochite iwae waga seko tada ni au made ni

白栲の我が衣手を取り持ちて
斎へ我が背子直に逢ふまでに

Roma-ji: Shirotae no a ga koromode o torimochite iwae waga seko tada ni au made ni
English Translation: The white sleeves
of this robe of mine,
take them in your hands
and pray, my dear husband,
until we meet face to face
Meaning: Take in your hands the white sleeves of my robe and keep yourself pure in prayer, my dear husband, until we meet face to face.
Commentary: Book Fifteen Exchange Poems of Nakatomi no Yakamori and Sano no Otogami no Otome 3778

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Poems exchanged between Nakatomi no Ason Yakamori and Sano no Otogami no Otome"
She asks Yakamori to take in his hands the white sleeves of her robe and keep himself pure in prayer until the day they meet face to face. Taking up the robe she sent as a keepsake and praying for reunion, she seeks to keep their hearts bound together. The last line, "tada ni au made ni," is the same as in her 3751 of this book and in 3584, sung by an envoy's wife in the first half, so that the heart of a woman who entrusts a robe and awaits reunion recurs throughout the book. With this poem, the young woman's side of the exchange comes to a close.
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 two poems are by the young woman"; 3777 and 3778 of this book were sent by the young woman to Yakamori. 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 robes and sleeves.
Second line, "a ga koromode o": "koromode" means sleeves, those of the robe the young woman sent as a keepsake.
Third line, "torimochite": taking them in your hands.
Fourth line, "iwae waga seko": "iwau" means to purify oneself and pray for safety, here imperative; "waga seko" addresses her husband. The poem breaks after the fourth line.
Fifth line, "tada ni au made ni": until the day we meet face to face, the same last line as in 3751 of this book.
Author: Sano no Otogami no Otome
Source: Manyoshu
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