Natsugoromo usuki nagara zo tanomaruru hitoe naru shimo mi ni chikakereba - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

夏衣薄きながらぞ頼まるる
ひとへなるしも身に近ければ

Roma-ji: Natsugoromo usuki nagara zo tanomaruru hitoe naru shimo mi ni chikakereba
English Translation: Like a summer robe
thin though it be, all the same
I find I trust it,
for being single-layered
it lies closer to my skin.
Meaning: Though thin as a summer robe, I find myself relying on it all the same, for being a single layer it lies all the closer to me.
Commentary: Book Thirteen Love Poems III 823

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
The poem says that though the bond is thin as a summer robe, one still finds oneself relying on it, for being a single layer it lies all the closer to the body. In the thin, unlined summer robe lying close to the skin, it lays a reliance on a lover who feels near at heart despite a shallow bond.

First line, "natsugoromo," is a thin robe worn in summer. Following the summer birds of 820 through 822, it sings of a summer image.
Second line, "usuki nagara zo," means "though it is thin," laying the thinness of the robe over the thinness of the bond.
Third line, "tanomaruru," means "I find myself relying," concluding in "ruru," the attributive form of the spontaneous auxiliary "ru," in answer to "zo," with a caesura here.
Fourth line, "hitoe naru shimo," means "all the more for being single-layered," with "shimo" an emphatic particle.
Final line, "mi ni chikakereba," means "since it lies close to the body," inverted to show the reason for the third line. Where 798 resents the barrier of a robe, this poem takes comfort in a thin robe lying close to the body, reversing the conceit of the robe.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
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