Ashiginu wa sake karamite zo hito wa kiru hiro ya taranu to omou naru beshi - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

絁はさけからみてぞ人は着る
ひろや足らぬと思ふなるべし

Roma-ji: Ashiginu wa sake karamite zo hito wa kiru hiro ya taranu to omou naru beshi
English Translation: Coarse silk cloth, they say,
is worn by people
torn and twisted through;
it must be that they think
it is too short in length.
Meaning: People wear coarse silk by twisting together its torn parts; they must think it is not long enough.
Commentary: Book Seven Names of Things 408

Headnote: "Sakekarami (sakekarami dish)"
The poem is understood to say that people wear coarse silk by twisting its torn parts together, perhaps thinking it too short. Singing of a way of life in which a poor robe is mended and worn, it hides the name "sakekarami" given in the headnote in the run of sounds "sake karami" in the second line. The headnote names the thing hidden in the poem.
The author, written as Sukemi, is Fujiwara no Sukemi. A son of Fujiwara no Hirotsune, he was a mid-Heian poet known as Tōroku. He excelled at poems hiding the names of things, and his personal collection is the Tōrokushū.

First line, "ashiginu wa," means "silk roughly woven from thick thread."
Second line, "sake karamite zo," is understood to mean "twisting the torn parts together," hiding the name "sakekarami." After the name of a fish in the preceding poem, the name of a food is sung of.
Third line, "hito wa kiru," means "people wear it," with "zo" resolved by the attributive "kiru." The poem pauses here.
Fourth line, "hiro ya taranu to," means "that it is not long enough," with "ya" expressing a question.
Final line, "omou naru beshi," means "they must think," with "naru" assertive and "beshi" conjectural.
Author: Fujiwara no Sukemi
Source: Shui Wakashu
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