Koromo dani naka ni arishi wa utokariki awanu yo o sae hedatetsuru kana - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

衣だに中にありしはうとかりき
逢はぬ夜をさへ隔てつるかな

Roma-ji: Koromo dani naka ni arishi wa utokariki awanu yo o sae hedatetsuru kana
English Translation: Even a robe that lay
between us both, once I found
it kept us apart,
yet now even the nights we
do not meet come in between.
Meaning: Once even a robe lying between us felt like a barrier; now even nights without meeting have come between us.
Commentary: Book Thirteen Love Poems III 798

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poem laments that once even a single robe between the two felt distant, yet now even nights without meeting have come between them. Contrasting the intimate time when even a thin robe was a barrier with the present, when nights apart pile up, it sings of the distance from a lover who has drifted away.

First line, "koromo dani," means "even a robe," with "dani" an adverbial particle naming something light to imply something heavier.
Second line, "naka ni arishi wa," means "that it lay between us," recalling the time of lying together.
Third line, "utokariki," means "felt distant," with a caesura here.
Fourth line, "awanu yo o sae," means "even the nights we do not meet," with "sae" additive.
Final line, "hedatetsuru kana," means "have come between us," with "kana" exclamatory. It contrasts the small barrier of a robe with the great barrier of nights apart, setting the same theme of separation on different scales.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
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