Ureshisa o kaesugaesu mo tsutsumubeki koke no tamoto no sebaku mo aru kana - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

嬉しさをかへすがへすも包むべき
苔の袂の狭くもあるかな

Roma-ji: Ureshisa o kaesugaesu mo tsutsumubeki koke no tamoto no sebaku mo aru kana
English Translation: This joy of mine,
over and over again
I would wrap it up,
yet how narrow the sleeves
of my robe of moss must be
Meaning: I would wrap this joy up again and again, but how narrow are the sleeves of my mossy robe.
Commentary: Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems II 1156

Headnote: "Composed and presented to the emperor when, after I had taken the tonsure, I had the former Middle Counselor Masayori, still a boy, apply for the first time for admission to the courtiers' hall, and it was granted"
After the author had taken the tonsure, he had his son Minamoto no Masayori, still a boy, apply for the first time for admission to the courtiers' hall, and when it was granted he composed this poem and had it presented to the emperor. How narrow the sleeves of my mossy robe, in which I would wrap this joy over and over, he says. His joy at his son's admission is so great that he would wrap it in his sleeves again and again, but the sleeves of the humble robe of one who has left the world are too narrow to hold it all, expressing both a father's great joy and gratitude for the emperor's favor.
The author, "Lay Monk and Former Middle Counselor Masakane," is Minamoto no Masakane. A son of the Minister of the Right Minamoto no Akifusa, he rose to provisional middle counselor and later took the tonsure. He was the father of Minamoto no Masayori.
The idea of wrapping joy in one's sleeves recalls the poem in the first book of miscellaneous poems of the Kokin Wakashū, "ureshiki o nani ni tsutsumamu karakoromo tamoto yutaka ni tate to iwamashi o." It shares the first line "ureshisa o" with the next poem, 1157, both singing of wrapping in one's sleeves the joy of admission to the courtiers' hall.

First line, "ureshisa o": "the joy" of his son's admission to the hall. It is the same first line as the next poem, 1157.
Second line, "kaesugaesu mo": "over and over again," echoing the turning back of a sleeve.
Third line, "tsutsumubeki": "in which I would wrap it." It shares "tsutsumu" with "tsutsumu kana" in the third line of the next poem, 1157.
Fourth line, "koke no tamoto no": "of the sleeves of a robe of moss," that is, a monk's robe, meaning one who has left the world.
Fifth line, "sebaku mo aru kana": "how narrow they are," with "kana" an exclamatory final particle.
Author: Minamoto no Masakane
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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