Ajiki na ya waga na wa tachite karakoromo mi ni mo narasade yaminu beki kana - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

あぢきなや我が名はたちて唐衣
身にもならさでやみぬべきかな

Roma-ji: Ajiki na ya waga na wa tachite karakoromo mi ni mo narasade yaminu beki kana
English Translation: How hopeless it is!
My name is cut and spread abroad,
like a Chinese robe,
never worn close to the skin,
and so it must come to an end.
Meaning: How hopeless it is! My name rises in rumor, like a Chinese robe that is cut but never worn close, and it seems our love must end without our ever growing intimate.
Commentary: Book Twelve Love Poems II 703

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
The poem laments that only the poet's name has risen in rumor and that the love seems bound to end without the two ever growing close, like a fine robe cut but never worn. Pivoting "tachi" on a name "rising" and cloth being "cut," it strings together words associated with clothing, "karakoromo," "mi," and "narasu." It likens the emptiness of a love that is all rumor and no substance to a robe made but never worn.

First line, "ajiki na ya," means "how hopeless," and the poem breaks after this first line.
Second line, "waga na wa tachite," is a pivot word: "tachi" means a name "rising" and cloth being "cut." It shares the lament of one's name rising with the final line of the preceding poem, 702, "tatsu waga na kana."
Third line, "karakoromo," means a fine robe, an associated word binding "cutting" in the second line with "mi" and "narasa" in the fourth. It is the same word as the first line of the next poem, 704, "karakoromo."
Fourth line, "mi ni mo narasade," means "without wearing it close to the body," overlaid with the sense of never growing intimate with the beloved.
Final line, "yaminu beki kana," means "it seems it must end," with "nu" perfective and "beki" conjectural.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
Prev Poem: Take no ha ni okiiru koto no marobiaite nuru to wa nashi ni tatsu waga na kana
Next Poem: Karakoromo ware wa katana no furenaku ni mazu tatsu mono wa nakina narikeri