Karakoromo tachihanarenishi mama naraba kasanete mono wa omowazaramashi

唐衣たち離れにしままならば
重ねてものは思はざらまし

Roma-ji: Karakoromo tachihanarenishi mama naraba kasanete mono wa omowazaramashi
English Translation: As a Chinese robe
is cut, had we stayed parted
as we were at first,
layered over once again
I would not be brooding now.
Meaning: Had we stayed apart, as cloth once cut for a Chinese robe, I would not now be brooding over love a second time, layer upon layer.
Commentary: Love Poems 593

Headnote: "Love broken off a second time"
The topic is a love that broke off, was renewed, and broke off once more. Had they stayed apart after the first parting, the poet says, he would not now be brooding a second time. Opening with karakoromo, a Chinese robe, he makes tachi carry both the cutting of cloth and the leaving of each other, and uses kasane, layering, as a word associated with robes, so that the grief of a love broken off again is tailored from words of clothing.

First line, “karakoromo”: a fine robe in the Chinese style, leading to tachi through the cutting of cloth.
Second line, “tachihanarenishi”: tachi is a pivot word joining cutting cloth with standing apart: having once parted.
Third line, “mama naraba”: had it stayed so; this answers mashi at the end.
Fourth line, “kasanete mono wa”: kasane, layering, is associated with the robe, and here means once again, answering 'a second time' in the topic.
Fifth line, “omowazaramashi”: mashi is counterfactual: I would not be brooding.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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