Akekurashi moru tanomi o karasetsutsu tamoto sohotsu no mi to zo narinuru - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

明け暮らし守るたのみを刈らせつつ
袂そほつの身とぞなりぬる

Roma-ji: Akekurashi moru tanomi o karasetsutsu tamoto sohotsu no mi to zo narinuru
English Translation: From dawn until dusk
I kept watch on the rice I trusted,
yet let another reap it,
and now, like a scarecrow, I
am left with sleeves soaked through
Meaning: From dawn to dusk I guarded the rice I had trusted in, only to let another reap it—and now I have become a scarecrow with sleeves soaked through.
Commentary: Book Five Autumn Poems I 268

Headnote: "A woman had been courted by two men and gave herself to one of them, so the other sent her this."
The poet says that the rice he had watched over from dawn to dusk has been reaped by another, and he has become like a scarecrow, his sleeves wet with tears. The sorrow of losing the woman he loved to another man is expressed through the scarecrow that guards the fields.
According to the headnote, a woman courted by two men gave herself to one of them, and the other man sent her this. The next poem is the woman's reply, and the two form an exchange.
The poet is listed as "anonymous," and the composer's name has not come down to us. The headnote shows that it is the poem of the man who failed to win the woman.

The first line, "Akekurashi," means "passing night into day and day into dusk," "from dawn till dark."
In the second line, "tanomi" is a pivot word joining "ta no mi," the grain of the rice field, and "tanomi," trust: "the rice I watched over," and "the woman I trusted in."
The third line, "karasetsutsu," means "letting another reap it," expressing that the woman was taken by another man. "Karu," to reap, is an associated word of "ta no mi."
In the fourth line, "sohotsu" is a pivot word joining "sohozu," a scarecrow, and "sohotsu," to be drenched with rain or tears.
The last line, "mi to zo narinuru," means "I have become," with the particle "zo" and the attributive "nuru" forming a kakarimusubi pattern.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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