Kawaku ma mo naki sumizome no tamoto kana kuchinaba nani o katami ni mo sen - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

乾く間もなき墨染の袂かな
朽ちなば何を形見にもせん

Roma-ji: Kawaku ma mo naki sumizome no tamoto kana kuchinaba nani o katami ni mo sen
English Translation: Never a moment
when they are dry, these sleeves
dyed in ink-black mourning:
if they rot away, what then
shall I keep to remember him?
Meaning: My ink-black mourning sleeves never have a moment to dry. If they rot away, what shall I keep to remember him by?
Commentary: Book Nine Poems of Lament 571

Headnote: "Composed during the period of mourning after Retired Emperor Go-Sanjō passed away"
Composed during the period of national mourning after the death of Retired Emperor Go-Sanjō. My ink-black sleeves have no moment to dry, the poet says; if they rot away, what shall I keep as a keepsake? Cherishing his mourning robe as a keepsake of the late emperor, he laments that, soaked through with tears, it seems about to decay, showing the depth of his grief. Emperor Go-Sanjō died in 1073.
The author, "Fujiwara no Akitsuna Ason," was the son of Fujiwara no Kanetsune, and his mother was Ben no Menoto. He served as Governor of Sanuki among other posts and was called the Sanuki Lay Monk.
Poem 548 of this book likewise sings of a mourning robe worn as a keepsake that will rot away with tears, the same conceit as this poem.
The first line of this text reads "kawaku ma mo," which does not agree with "kawaku yo mo" in the reading line. Here the text is followed.

First line, "kawaku ma mo": "not even a moment to dry" from tears.
Second line, "naki sumizome no": "sumizome" is a black as if dyed in ink, that is, mourning dress. The next poem, 572, and 581 of this book also sing of ink-black robes.
Third line, "tamoto kana": the exclamatory "kana," and the poem pauses here.
Fourth line, "kuchinaba": "na" is the irrealis of the perfective "nu," and with "ba" forms a hypothetical, "if they rot away." It echoes "kuchihatenu beshi" in 548 of this book.
Fifth line, "nani o katami ni mo sen": "sen" is the attributive of the conjectural "mu," "what shall I take as a keepsake?" The mourning robe itself is seen as the keepsake.
Author: Fujiwara no Akitsuna
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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