Uki ni yori tsui ni kuchinuru waga sode o kokorozukushi ni nani shinobiken

憂きによりつひに朽ちぬる我が袖を
心尽くしに何忍びけん

Roma-ji: Uki ni yori tsui ni kuchinuru waga sode o kokorozukushi ni nani shinobiken
English Translation: My sleeves have rotted
in the end from all the pain
that love has brought me—
why, then, did I strive so hard,
with all my heart, to hide it?
Meaning: My sleeves have finally rotted away from the pain of love—why did I take such pains to hide it?
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 1326

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "One hundred and ten love poems"
His sleeves have at last rotted from love's pain, so why did he labor so hard to hide it? the poet asks.
Now that he has wept until his sleeves rot, he looks back on the effort of concealment as meaningless, a poem of emptiness: all that remains at the end of hidden love is rotted sleeves.

First line, “uki ni yori”: because of love's pain.
Second line, “tsui ni kuchinuru”: rotted at last.
Third line, “waga sode o”: my sleeves, though.
Fourth line, “kokorozukushi ni”: with all my heart's anguish.
Fifth line, “nani shinobiken”: ken conjectures a past cause, "why did I hide it?"
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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