Uwagōri awa ni musuberu himo nareba kazasu hikage ni yurubu bakari o - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

うは氷あはに結べるひもなれば
かざすひかげにゆるぶばかりを

Roma-ji: Uwagōri awa ni musuberu himo nareba kazasu hikage ni yurubu bakari o
English Translation: Like a thin top ice,
so lightly was it fastened,
this cord of ice-face,
that in the sunlight of the vine
it has merely come undone
Meaning: It was a cord tied as lightly as the thin ice on the surface of the water, so in the sun-vine we wear on our heads, as ice loosens in the light of the sun, it has merely come a little loose.
Commentary: Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Poems I 961

Headnote: "In the reign of Emperor Ichijō, when the Empress presented dancers for the Gosechi festival, on the day of the Dragon even the twelve attendants, the girls and the lower servants were dressed in garments printed in blue. When a lady named Hyōe said that her red cord had come untied and she wished to tie it, Middle Captain Sanekata came near to fix it and said, "The water of the mountain well lies frozen; what kind of cord is it that comes undone?" Hearing this, I composed a reply"
In the reign of Emperor Ichijō, when Empress Teishi presented Gosechi dancers, on the day of the Dragon everyone from the twelve attendants to the girls and lower servants wore robes printed in blue. Hearing a lady named Hyōe say her red cord had come untied and that she wanted to tie it, Middle Captain Fujiwara no Sanekata came near to fix it and recited, the water of the mountain well is frozen, so what kind of cord comes undone? This is the reply. It was a cord tied lightly, like thin ice on the surface, so in the sun-vine we hold up it has only loosened, as ice loosens in the light of the sun, she says. Taking up Sanekata's "frozen," "cord" and "comes undone," she likens the loosened cord to ice that melts in the sun, and lightly parries Sanekata's verse, which hinted at love. The episode is also recorded in The Pillow Book.
The author, "Sei Shōnagon of the Empress's Household," was the daughter of Kiyohara no Motosuke. She served Emperor Ichijō's empress Teishi and wrote the miscellany The Pillow Book. She is one of the Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals of the Middle Ages, and a poem of hers is included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.
Following the preceding poem, 960, a screen poem for Jōtōmon'in Shōshi's entry into the palace, this poem is an exchange at the court of Empress Teishi, so that poems connected with Emperor Ichijō's two consorts stand side by side. The text gives the fifth line as "yurubu bakari o," which does not agree with "yurumu bakari zo" in the reading line; here the text is followed.

First line, "uwagōri": thin ice formed on the surface of the water. It takes up "the water of the mountain well lies frozen" in Sanekata's poem.
Second line, "awa ni musuberu": "awa ni" means lightly or thinly, layering thin ice with a lightly tied cord.
Third line, "himo nareba": "himo" is a pivot word meaning both the cord of a robe and "himo," the surface of ice. "Nareba" means "since it is."
Fourth line, "kazasu hikage ni": "hikage" is a pivot word meaning both the sun-vine worn on the cap at the Gosechi festival and the light of the sun, implying that ice melts in the sunlight.
Fifth line, "yurubu bakari o": "yurubu" means to loosen. "Bakari" is restrictive and "o" an exclamatory particle with an adversative note, "it has merely loosened, that is all."
Author: Sei Shōnagon
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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