可良許呂毛 須蘇乃宇知可倍 安波祢杼毛 家思吉己許呂乎 安我毛波奈久尓
からころも すそのうちかへ あはねども けしきこころを あがもはなくに
| karakoromo suso no utikape apanedomo kesiki kokoro o a ga mopanaku ni | A Cathay robe’s Seamed hems cross, but Do not meet together, yet To have a faithless heart I’ll not think, at all…[1] |
Anonymous
In a certain book, this poem is:
可良己呂母 須素能宇知可比 阿波奈敝婆 祢奈敝乃可良尓 許等多可利都母
からころも すそのうちかひ あはなへば ねなへのからに ことたかりつも
| karakoromo suso no utikapi apanapeba nenape no kara ni kototakaritu mo | A Cathay robe’s Seamed hems crossing, but Not meeting— We sleep not together, yet How painful the rumours are… |
[1] This poem relies for its impact on a knowledge of continental clothing designs. Unlike in contemporaneous Japanese garments which were all the same length, continental ones (karakoromo 唐衣 – note that this has been translated as ‘Cathay robe’ for consistency, but the kara element is probably more likely to refer to Kudara 百済, the Korean kingdom of Baekje, in this context) featured multiple robes of differing lengths and thus the hems of these would not align. The use of au 合ふ (‘meet/come together [of objects]’) simultaneously evokes the homophonous au 逢ふ (‘meet [romantically’] and awaseme 合目 (‘seam’).
Left
唐ころもほせど袂の露けきは我が身の秋になればなりけり
| karakoromo hosedo tamoto no tsuyukeki wa wa ga mi no aki ni nareba narikeri | My Cathay robe I dry, and yet the sleeves Dew dampness is because For me autumn Has come. |
108[1]
Right
秋の露色のことごとおけばこそ山も紅葉も千くさなるらめ
| aki no tsuyu iro no kotogoto okeba koso yama mo momiji mo chigusa narurame | The autumn dewdrops In a medley of colours Do truly fall, so The mountains and the autumn leaves, too, Turn a multitude of hues. |
109
[1] Shinchokusenshū V: 298
Fulling cloth late at night (深夜擣衣)
Left
わぎもこがうつ唐衣さよふけてほのかにきこゆいづこなるらん
| wagimoko ga utsu karakoromo sayo fukete honoka ni kikoyu izuko naruran | My darling girl Is fulling my Cathay robe; As brief night breaks Faintly I hear The echoes from somewhere. |
Ki no Sukezane
29
Right
手もたゆく成りやゆくらんさ夜ふかみ衣しでうつ音ののどけさ
| ta mo tayuku nari ya yukuran sayo fukami koromo shideutsu oto no nodokesa | Is it that her hands so weary Have become? Late on a brief night Fulling clothing— How faint that sound… |
Taira no Sadamoto
30
