Kimi o nomi omoikakego no tamakushige aketatsu goto ni koinu hi wa nashi - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

君をのみ思ひかけごの玉くしげ
明け立つごとに恋ひぬ日はなし

Roma-ji: Kimi o nomi omoikakego no tamakushige aketatsu goto ni koinu hi wa nashi
English Translation: You alone I set
my heart on, like the inner tray
of the jeweled box;
each time it opens with the dawn,
no day passes without longing.
Meaning: Setting my heart on you alone, like the inner tray of a jeweled comb box, each time the box opens with the dawn, there is no day I do not long for you.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems I 697

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
The poem says that, setting his heart on the beloved alone, like the inner tray of a jeweled comb box, each time the dawn opens there is no day the poet does not long for her. Pivoting "kakego" on "omoikake," setting one's heart, and "kakego," the inner tray fitted into a box, and moving from "opening" the comb box to the dawn "breaking," it expresses a longing that never ceases, morning after morning. Like the preceding poem, 696, it uses "tamakushige" as a pillow word for "ake," dawn.
This is the closing poem of the book. Where the opening poem, 621, sang of love's beginning in secret with "omoisomeshika," this poem sings of a longing that never ceases, with no day without longing each time the dawn comes, so that the opening and closing of the book answer each other with the beginning of love and a love that continues day after day.

First line, "kimi o nomi," means "you alone."
Second line, "omoikakego no," is a pivot word: "kakego" means the "kake" of "omoikake," setting one's heart, and "kakego," the small inner tray fitted into a box.
Third line, "tamakushige," is a word of praise for a comb box and a pillow word introducing "ake," dawn. It is the same word as the third line of the preceding poem, 696.
Fourth line, "aketatsu goto ni," means "each time the dawn breaks," echoing the "opening" of the comb box.
Final line, "koinu hi wa nashi," means "there is no day I do not long for you," ending in the same form as the final line of 664, "kakenu hi wa nashi." Against the beginning of love in the final line of the opening poem, 621, "omoisomeshika," it closes the book with a longing renewed each day.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
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