Waga koi wa shizu no shikeito sujiyowami taema wa ōku kuru wa sukunashi - Kinyo Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

我が恋は賤のしけ糸筋弱み
絶え間は多くくるは少なし

Roma-ji: Waga koi wa shizu no shikeito sujiyowami taema wa ōku kuru wa sukunashi
English Translation: This love of mine is
like a coarse thread spun by the poor,
so weak in its strands
that its breaks are all too many,
and its windings come but rarely
Meaning: My love is like the coarse thread spun by humble folk: its strands so weak that the breaks are many, and you come as rarely as the thread is wound.
Commentary: Book Eight Love Poems II 514

The poet's love is like the coarse thread spun by humble folk, its strands so weak that the breaks are many and the beloved comes but rarely. Punning on kuru, to wind thread and to come, and stringing words related to thread, the poem conveys a love whose visits keep breaking off.
Like the hikimayu, cocoon, of poem 475 in this book, it sings of love through thread.

First line, 'waga koi wa', means my love.
Second line, 'shizu no shikeito', means the coarse thread spun by humble folk.
Third line, 'sujiyowami', means since its strands are weak, an adjective stem with mi expressing a cause.
Fourth line, 'taema wa ōku', means the breaks are many, layering the thread snapping with visits breaking off.
Final line, 'kuru wa sukunashi', is a pivot word in which kuru means both winding thread and the beloved coming, left in kana.
Source: Kinyo Wakashu
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