Koi o nomi shigururu sora no ukigumo wa kumori mo aezu sode nurashikeri - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

恋をのみしぐるる空のうき雲は
曇りもあへず袖濡らしけり

Roma-ji: Koi o nomi shigururu sora no ukigumo wa kumori mo aezu sode nurashikeri
English Translation: The drifting clouds,
of a sky that showers down
nothing but my love,
before they have even darkened,
have already wet my sleeve
Meaning: The aching, drifting clouds in the sky that rains down nothing but love have wet my sleeves before they have even finished gathering.
Commentary: Book Twelve Love Poems II 747

Headnote: "Composed as a love poem"
Composed as a love poem. The drifting clouds of a sky that showers only love, he says, have wet my sleeve before they have even clouded over. Likening his heart to a sky of winter showers and the sorrow of love to drifting clouds, he expresses how easily the tears of love fall: just as the shower begins before the sky is fully overcast, his tears spill before his longing has even gathered.
The author, "Fujiwara no Nariie Ason," was the son of Fujiwara no Shunzei, compiler of this anthology. The elder brother of Fujiwara no Teika, he served as an official.
Since 704 at the head of this book, many poems have sung of wet sleeves, but this one entrusts that theme to the scene of a sky of winter showers.

First line, "koi o nomi": "nothing but love," leading to "shigururu" in the second line.
Second line, "shigururu sora no": "shiguru" is for winter showers to fall, likening the tears of love to such showers.
Third line, "ukigumo wa": "uki" pivots between "floating" in the sky and "painful."
Fourth line, "kumori mo aezu": "aezu" means "not quite completing," "before it has fully clouded over."
Fifth line, "sode nurashikeri": "keri" is exclamatory, "it has wet my sleeve!"
Author: Fujiwara no Nariie
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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