classic waka stream

わが袖の涙かかると濡れてあれな
うらやましきは池の鴛鴦
Roma-ji

Waga sode no namida kakaru to nurete are na urayamashiki wa ike no oshidori

English Translation
As though the tears from
these my sleeves had splashed on you,
so stay wet, I wish,
for the ones whom I envy
are the ducks upon the pond.
Meaning
Stay wet as though my tears had splashed you, for it is you I envy, mandarin ducks on the pond.
Commentary
Love Poems 608

Headnote: "Love expressed through waterfowl"
The topic is love expressed through waterfowl. Mandarin ducks were said to stay always together, male and female. Envying them, the poet is taken to wish that the ducks would at least think of their feathers, wet with the pond's water, as wet with the tears from his sleeves. The poet alone and wet with tears is set against the ducks floating side by side.

First line, “waga sode no”: of my sleeves.
Second line, “namida kakaru to”: taken to mean thinking that my tears have splashed on you.
Third line, “nurete are na”: na expresses a wish with feeling: be wet; the line has an extra syllable, and the poem breaks after the third line.
Fourth line, “urayamashiki wa”: what I envy is.
Fifth line, “ike no oshidori”: oshidori, mandarin ducks, were said never to leave each other; the poem ends on a noun, answering the waterfowl of the topic.
Author
Saigyō
Source
Sankashu
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