Hito shirenu namida ni sode wa kuchinikeri au yo mo araba nani ni tsutsumamu - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

人知れぬ涙に袖は朽ちにけり
逢ふ夜もあらば何に包まむ

Roma-ji: Hito shirenu namida ni sode wa kuchinikeri au yo mo araba nani ni tsutsumamu
English Translation: With tears none have known,
these sleeves of mine have rotted;
should a night arrive
when we two may meet at last,
in what could I wrap my joy?
Meaning: My sleeves have rotted away with tears that no one knows of; if a night of meeting should come, in what could I wrap my joy?
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems I 674

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Sent to a woman"
The poem says that the poet's sleeves have rotted with secret tears, so if a night of meeting should come, in what could he wrap his joy. The headnote is the same as that of the preceding poem, 673, a poem sent to a woman. The idea of wrapping joy in one's sleeves echoes the Kokinshū poem "ureshisa o nani ni tsutsumamu karakoromo," turned here to sleeves rotted by tears. The next poem, 675, is the reply, and with 676 poems on rotting sleeves continue.

First line, "hito shirenu," means "unknown to others," the same line as the first lines of 672 and 673.
Second line, "namida ni sode wa," means "my sleeves, with tears."
Third line, "kuchinikeri," means "have rotted away," and the poem breaks after this third line. Like the final line of 676, "sode zo kuchinuru," it speaks of sleeves rotting.
Fourth line, "au yo mo araba," means "if a night of meeting should come," using the same words as the fourth line of 646, "araba au yo no."
Final line, "nani ni tsutsumamu," means "in what could I wrap my joy," with "mu" conjectural.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
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