Shiratama wa odae shiniki to kikishi yue ni sono o mata nuki waga tama ni semu

白玉は緒絶えしにきと聞きしゆゑに
その緒また貫き我が玉にせむ

Roma-ji: Shiratama wa odae shiniki to kikishi yue ni sono o mata nuki waga tama ni semu
English Translation: The white pearl, I hear,
has had its cord snap apart;
since I have heard so,
I shall thread its cord anew
and make that pearl my own.
Meaning: I have heard that the white pearl's cord has snapped; so I shall thread a new cord through it and make that pearl my own.
Commentary: Book Sixteen Poems with Tales of Origin and Miscellaneous Poems 3814

Headnote: "Poem sent; one poem."
Saying he will rethread the cord of a white pearl whose string has broken and make it his own, the man asks for the hand of a maiden whose marriage has ended. It is a metaphorical poem in which the maiden is the pearl and divorce the snapping of its cord.
According to the left note, there was a maiden who, abandoned by her husband, had remarried into another family. A man who did not know this sent this poem to her parents asking for her hand. Thinking he had not heard the full story, the parents wrote a poem in reply to tell him of her remarriage.
The poet is the young man of the tale who sought the maiden's hand; his name is not recorded.

First line, "shiratama wa," means "the white pearl," a figure for the cherished maiden. The next poem, 3815, also begins with shiratama, so the exchange faces off with the same word.
Second line, "odae shiniki to," means "that its cord had broken," the snapping of the string standing for a broken marriage.
Third line, "kikishi yue ni," means "since I heard." Hypermetric at six syllables, it shows that rumor prompted his proposal.
Fourth line, "sono o mata nuki," means "threading its cord anew." The same line returns in the next poem, so proposal and answer meet in identical words.
Final line, "waga tama ni semu," means "I shall make it my pearl." The volitional mu voices his proposal, and the same line appears at the end of poem 3870 in this book.
Source: Manyoshu
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