Morotomo ni oru tomo nashi ni uchitokete mienikeru kana asagao no hana - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

もろともに折るともなしにうちとけて
見えにけるかなあさがほの花

Roma-ji: Morotomo ni oru tomo nashi ni uchitokete mienikeru kana asagao no hana
English Translation: Though we did not
pluck it there together,
it has come open,
and so you have seen me—
my morning-glory face
Meaning: Though we did not pluck it together, it opened all unguarded, and so you have seen it: the morning glory, my face as I woke.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems III 716

Headnote: "When a man left at dawn from her room, before which morning glories were blooming."
The poet says that though they did not pick the flower together, he has seen her morning face, opened and unguarded. Drawing on the morning glories in the garden, she voices her shyness at having been seen without composure by the man leaving at dawn.
According to the headnote, the poem was composed as the man left at daybreak from her room, in front of which morning glories were in bloom.
The poet is listed as "anonymous," and the composer's name has not come down to us.

The first line, "Morotomo ni," means "together."
The second line, "oru tomo nashi ni," means "though we did not pluck it," referring to picking the flower together.
The third line, "uchitokete," layers the opening of a flower with the sense of relaxing one's guard.
The fourth line, "mienikeru kana," means "I have been seen," "miyu" meaning to be seen. "Kana" is an exclamatory particle.
The last line, "asagao no hana," is a pivot word joining the morning glory flower with "asa-gao," one's face on waking, and the poem ends on a noun.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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