Hakanakute taenamu kumo no ito yue ni nani ni ka ōku kakamu to zo omou - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

はかなくて絶えなむくものいとゆゑに
何にか多くかかむとぞ思ふ

Roma-ji: Hakanakute taenamu kumo no ito yue ni nani ni ka ōku kakamu to zo omou
English Translation: Since it's but a spider's
fragile thread that soon must break,
this bond of ours,
why should I write so many,
why let so many lines be spun
Meaning: Since ours is a frail bond, like a spider's thread sure to break, why should I bother to write you so many letters, to spin so many lines?
Commentary: Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Poems II 1139

Headnote: "When a man asked me to write him many letters."
The poet asks why she should write many letters, since their bond is like a spider's thread sure to snap. To a man who asks for many letters, she overlays the spinning of a spider's thread with the writing of letters and coolly replies that a bond bound to break deserves no such effort.
According to the headnote, it was composed when a man asked her to write him many letters.
The poet is listed as anonymous, and the composer's name has not come down to us.

The first line, "Hakanakute," means "so frail."
The second line, "taenamu kumo no," means "of a spider, sure to break," with "namu" strong conjecture. It overlays the eventual end of their bond.
The third line, "ito yue ni," means "since it is a thread," likening the frailty of their bond to a spider's thread.
The fourth line, "nani ni ka ōku," means "why so many," with "ka" an interrogative binding particle closed by the attributive "omou" in the last line.
The last line, "kakamu to zo omou," means "should I think to write," with "kaka" joining writing letters and the hanging of a spider's thread. With a rhetorical sense, she answers that she will not write.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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