Hikimayu no kaku futagomori semahoshimi kuwa kokitarete naku o miseba ya - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

ひきまゆのかくふたごもりせまほしみ
桑こきたれて泣くを見せばや

Roma-ji: Hikimayu no kaku futagomori semahoshimi kuwa kokitarete naku o miseba ya
English Translation: Like two silkworms
closed within a single cocoon,
so I long to be—
I'd show you how I weep, tears
stripped like mulberry leaves
Meaning: Wanting to be shut away with you, like two silkworms sharing a single cocoon, I would show you how I weep, my tears falling like stripped mulberry leaves.
Commentary: Book Twelve Love Poems IV 874

Headnote: "When a woman to whom he had sent letters replied that he could hardly be in earnest."
The poet says that wishing to be shut away together like two silkworms in one cocoon, he would like to show her how he weeps, his tears like stripped mulberry leaves. To a woman who doubts his sincerity, he links words related to silkworms and mulberry to plead his earnest wish to live with her.
According to the headnote, the poem was composed when a woman he had been writing to replied that he was surely not serious.
The poet, listed as "Tadafusa Ason," was Fujiwara no Tadafusa. A son of Fujiwara no Koretsugu, also called Okitsugu, he served as Governor of Yamato and of Yamashiro among other posts, and rose to Master of the Right Capital Office.

The first line, "Hikimayu no," means "of the cocoon spun by silkworms."
The second line, "kaku futagomori," means "two shut in like this," layering two silkworms in a single cocoon with his wish for the two of them to live together.
The third line, "semahoshimi," means "since I wish to," with "mi" expressing a reason.
The fourth line, "kuwa kokitarete," means "like stripping mulberry leaves," a figure for tears falling drop by drop. "Kuwa," mulberry, is associated with "hikimayu."
The last line, "naku o miseba ya," means "how I wish to show you my weeping," with "baya" expressing a wish.
Author: Fujiwara no Tadanobu
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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