Asa madaki tsuyu wakekitsuru koromode no hiruma bakari ni koishiki ya nazo - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

朝まだき露分け来つる衣手の
ひるまばかりに恋しきやなぞ

Roma-ji: Asa madaki tsuyu wakekitsuru koromode no hiruma bakari ni koishiki ya nazo
English Translation: Early in the morning
I came home through the dew,
and while my sleeves dry,
in the short span of daytime,
why do I long for you so?
Meaning: Early this morning I came home parting the dew, and in the little while it takes my sleeves to dry, in the daytime hours, why do I long for you so?
Commentary: Book Twelve Love Poems II 720

Headnote: "The morning after first visiting the Fifth Lady of the Hon'in"
The poem asks why the poet longs so much in the little while it takes for sleeves wet from parting the morning dew to dry. The headnote shows it was a morning-after poem sent after his first visit to the Fifth Lady of the Hon'in. Pivoting "hiru" on sleeves "drying" and "daytime," it expresses a longing that grows strong so soon after parting. It shares its final line, "koishiki ya nazo," with the next poem, 721, so that two morning-after poems sent to ladies of the Hon'in stand side by side. The Hon'in was the mansion of Fujiwara no Tokihira, Minister of the Left, and the Fifth Lady seems to have been a daughter of that house.
The author, Taira no Yukitoki, is said to have been an official of the mid-Heian period, but little is known of him.

First line, "asa madaki," means "early in the morning."
Second line, "tsuyu wakekitsuru," means "having come home parting the dew," with "tsuru" the attributive form of the perfective "tsu."
Third line, "koromode no," means "of my sleeves," sleeves wet with dew.
Fourth line, "hiruma bakari ni," is a pivot word: "hiru" means sleeves "drying" and "daytime," giving "in just the time it takes to dry, in the daytime hours."
Final line, "koishiki ya nazo," means "why do I long so," the same line as the final line of the next poem, 721, "koishiki ya nazo."
Author: Taira no Yukitoki
Source: Shui Wakashu
Prev Poem: Katsuragi ya ware ya wa Kume no hashitsukuri akeyuku hodo wa mono o koso omoe
Next Poem: Futatsu naki kokoro wa kimi ni okitsuru o mata hodo mo naku koishiki ya nazo