Yotake tatsu sode ni tataete shinobu kana tamoto no taki ni otsuru nami o

よたけたつ袖にたたへて忍ぶかな
袂の滝に落つる浪を

Roma-ji: Yotake tatsu sode ni tataete shinobu kana tamoto no taki ni otsuru nami o
English Translation: Rising high as waves,
filling my sleeves to the brim,
I hide them, I bear—
the waves that fall cascading
down the waterfall of my sleeves.
Meaning: Filling my sleeves to the brim with waves that rise high, I keep them hidden—the waves that tumble down the waterfall of my sleeves.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 1325

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "One hundred and ten love poems"
Filling his sleeves to the brim with tears that rise high like waves, he hides them, the waves that fall down the waterfall of his sleeves, the poet says.
Through hyperbole likening overflowing tears to water held in the sleeves and waves falling down the cascade of the sleeves, it shows how many are the tears of hidden love. The first line, yotake tatsu, is hard to construe but is taken as "rising high." The text's last line reads "otsuru nami o," which does not match the reading line "otsuru namida o"; the text is followed here, though the reading line would give "the tears that fall."

First line, “yotake tatsu”: hard to construe, taken as "rising high like waves."
Second line, “sode ni tataete”: filling my sleeves to the brim.
Third line, “shinobu kana”: kana is exclamatory, "I hide them"; the poem breaks here.
Fourth line, “tamoto no taki ni”: down the waterfall of my sleeves.
Fifth line, “otsuru nami o”: following the text, "the falling waves"; the reading line would give "the falling tears," with the proper count.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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