我妹子が声たち聞きし唐衣
その夜の露に袖は濡れにき
その夜の露に袖は濡れにき
- Roma-ji
-
Wagimoko ga koe tachikikishi karakoromo sono yo no tsuyu ni sode wa nureniki
- English Translation
-
My dearest's voice
I stood and overheard that night,
my Chinese robe—
in the dew of that same night
its sleeves were soaked through
- Meaning
- That night when I stood and overheard my beloved's voice, the sleeves of my Chinese robe were soaked through with the dew of that very night.
- Commentary
-
Book Eight Love Poems II 433
On the night he stood in the shadows listening to his beloved's voice, the poet says, his sleeves were soaked by the night dew. Recalling a night when he could only hear her voice and not meet her, he lays the tears of love over the dew that wet his sleeves.
The author, Akisue, is Fujiwara no Akisue. A son of Fujiwara no Takatsune, he rose to Master of the Office of Palace Repairs. Founder of the Rokujō Fujiwara house, he served Retired Emperor Shirakawa as a close retainer and was active as a poet.
First line, 'wagimoko ga', means of my dear one, of the woman I love.
Second line, 'koe tachikikishi', is a pivot word in which tachi means both standing to overhear in the shadows and cutting cloth, tied to the Chinese robe in the third line, left in kana. It uses shi, the attributive of the past ki.
Third line, 'karakoromo', is a fine robe in the Chinese style, related to cutting and sleeves.
Fourth line, 'sono yo no tsuyu ni', means in the dew of that night, overlaid with the sense of tears.
Final line, 'sode wa nureniki', means my sleeves were soaked, the perfective nu followed by the past ki recalling something he himself lived through.
- Author
- Fujiwara no Akisue
- Source
- Kinyo Wakashu
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