Hitome mishi hito wa tare to mo shirakumo no uwa no sora naru koi mo suru kana - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

一目見し人は誰ともしら雲の
上の空なる恋もするかな

Roma-ji: Hitome mishi hito wa tare to mo shirakumo no uwa no sora naru koi mo suru kana
English Translation: One I saw but once,
whose name I do not know, like
the white clouds that drift:
in the empty sky above
my love floats, unanchored now
Meaning: I glimpsed her only once and do not even know who she is, and so, like the white clouds drifting overhead, I am caught in a love that floats in empty air.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems I 647

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
Not knowing who it is that I saw but once, he says, I fall into a love as unanchored as the sky where white clouds drift. Combining "shira," "not knowing," with the white of "shirakumo," "white clouds," and drawing from the clouds the phrase "uwa no sora," "the sky above," he expresses the uncertainty of a love whose heart floats in the air without knowing even who its object is.
The author, "the Tokudaiji Minister of the Left," is Fujiwara no Saneyoshi. The son of Provisional Major Counselor Fujiwara no Kinzane, he rose to Minister of the Left and founded the Tokudaiji house. He was the elder brother of Taikenmon'in Shōshi, consort of Emperor Toba.
It shares with "mada shiranu hito o hajimete kouru kana" in 642 of this book a love for someone not yet known.

First line, "hitome mishi": "shi" is the attributive of the past "ki," "whom I saw but once."
Second line, "hito wa tare to mo": "who that person is."
Third line, "shirakumo no": "shira" combines "shira," "not knowing," and "shira," the white of "white clouds." "White clouds" is a related word to "sora," "sky," in the fourth line.
Fourth line, "uwa no sora naru": "uwa no sora" overlays the upper sky and a mind restless and adrift.
Fifth line, "koi mo suru kana": "kana" is an exclamatory final particle, "how I fall into such a love." Like "mada shiranu" in the first line of 642, it sings of love for someone unknown.
Author: Fujiwara no Saneyoshi
Source: Senzai Wakashu
Prev Poem: Ika ni sen omoi o hito ni somenagara iro ni ideji to shinobu kokoro o
Next Poem: Tsutsumedomo namida ni sode no arawarete koi su to hito ni shirarenuru kana