Hito shirezu otsuru namida wa Tsu no kuni no Nagasu to miete sode zo kuchinuru - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

人知れず落つる涙は津の国の
ながすと見えて袖ぞ朽ちぬる

Roma-ji: Hito shirezu otsuru namida wa Tsu no kuni no Nagasu to miete sode zo kuchinuru
English Translation: The tears that fall down,
unknown to any eyes,
like Tsu's Nagasu,
seem to stream and flow away,
and my sleeves have rotted through.
Meaning: The tears I shed unseen seem to flow like Nagasu in the land of Tsu, and my sleeves have rotted away.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems I 676

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poem says that the tears the poet sheds unseen seem to flow like Nagasu in the land of Tsu, and his sleeves have rotted away. Pivoting "nagasu" on the place name Nagasu in Tsu and "nagasu," to let tears flow, it laments sleeves rotted by flowing tears. Following 674 and 675, it sings of rotting sleeves.

First line, "hito shirezu," means "unknown to others," the same line as the third line of 634 and others.
Second line, "otsuru namida wa," means "the tears that fall."
Third line, "Tsu no kuni no," means "in the land of Tsu," that is, Settsu Province.
Fourth line, "Nagasu to miete," is a pivot word: "nagasu" means the place name Nagasu in Settsu and letting tears "flow."
Final line, "sode zo kuchinuru," means "my sleeves have rotted," with the binding particle "zo" resolved by "nuru," the attributive form of the perfective "nu." Like the third line of 674, "kuchinikeri," it speaks of sleeves rotting.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
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