Mizuhiki no shiraito haete oru hata wa tabi no koromo ni tachi ya kasanen - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

水引の白糸延へて織る機は
旅の衣に裁ちや重ねん

Roma-ji: Mizuhiki no shiraito haete oru hata wa tabi no koromo ni tachi ya kasanen
English Translation: The cloth that is woven
on the loom of white threads
the falling water stretches—
shall I cut it and layer it
on my robes for the journey
Meaning: The cloth woven on a loom strung with the white threads of falling water—shall I cut it and layer it over my traveling robes?
Commentary: Book Nineteen Parting Poems 1356

Headnote: "In attendance when the Cloistered Emperor viewed the place called Miya no Taki."
The poet asks whether he should cut the cloth woven on a loom strung with the white threads of falling water and layer it on his traveling clothes. Seeing the white water of Miya no Taki as threads stretched on a loom, he playfully proposes to cut the cloth into his traveling robes, delighting in the beauty of the falls.
According to the headnote, he composed this while attending Cloistered Emperor Uda when he viewed the place called Miya no Taki. It is said to come from the Cloistered Emperor's excursion to the Yoshino falls at Miyataki in the first year of Shōtai. The poem by the priest Sosei, 1367 of this book, was likewise composed at Miya no Taki at the Cloistered Emperor's command.
The poet, "the Sugawara Minister of the Right," is Sugawara no Michizane. A son of Sugawara no Koreyoshi, he rose high in the favor of Emperor Uda to become Minister of the Right, but was later demoted to Provisional Governor-General of Dazaifu. The Ogura Hyakunin Isshu includes his poem "Kono tabi wa nusa mo toriaezu Tamukeyama."

The first line, "Mizuhiki no," means "of the drawn-out water," the falling stream of the falls.
The second line, "shiraito haete," means "stretching white threads," seeing the white stream as warp threads strung on a loom.
The third line, "oru hata wa," means "the cloth woven on the loom."
The fourth line, "tabi no koromo ni," means "into robes for the journey."
The last line, "tachi ya kasanen," means "shall I cut it and layer it," with the interrogative binding particle "ya" closed by the attributive "n." "Thread," "weave," "loom," "cut," and "robe" are associated words.
Author: Sugawara no Michizane
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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