Obotsukana ika ni to hito no kurehatori ayamuru made ni nururu sode kana

おぼつかないかにと人のくれはとり
あやむるまでに濡るる袖かな

Roma-ji: Obotsukana ika ni to hito no kurehatori ayamuru made ni nururu sode kana
English Translation: How it troubles me!
so that people ask what's wrong,
as weavers of silk
wonder at their patterned threads,
the sleeves I soak in my tears.
Meaning: How anxious I am! My sleeves are so wet with tears that people wonder and ask what is the matter with me.
Commentary: Love Poems 580

Headnote: "Love revealed by tears"
The topic is a hidden love revealed through tears. The poet's sleeves are so wet with tears that those around him wonder what is wrong, and he worries that his secret love will be found out. Kurehatori, the weavers of patterned silk, serves as a pillow word leading into aya, here the aya of ayamuru, to wonder.

First line, “obotsukana”: written ohatsukana in the text but taken as obotsukana; the stem of obotsukanashi, anxious, used as an exclamation; the poem breaks after the first line.
Second line, “ika ni to hito no”: people asking what is wrong, the watching eyes of others.
Third line, “kurehatori”: the weavers of patterned silk, aya, a pillow word leading to ayamuru through the shared sound.
Fourth line, “ayamuru made ni”: ayamu is to find strange, to wonder at.
Fifth line, “nururu sode kana”: kana is exclamatory, closing on the tear-soaked sleeve, answering the topic.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
Prev Poem: Tatesomete kaeru kokoro wa nishikigi no chitsuka matsu beki kokochi koso sene
Next Poem: Nakanaka ni yume ni ureshiki au koto wa utsutsu ni mono o omou narikeri