A poignant poem that also provides insight into culture at the time:

Japanese	Romanization	Translation
うらみわび	Uramiwabi	Although there are
ほさぬそでだに	Hosanu sodé da ni	my sleeves that never dry,
あるものを	Aru mono wo	bitter and sad,
恋にくちなむん	Koi ni kuchinan	what I really regret is
名こそをおしけれ	Na koso oshikeré	my name, made rotten by love!

The author is Sagami (相模, 998? – 1068?) also known as “Lady Sagami”. Her name is taken from her father who served the governor of Sagami Province at one point, hence this became her sobriquet.

The poem is somewhat typical of the era, a woman is jilted and because of the public scrutiny her reputation is ruined. Because the Court society was so closed and small, rumors and reputation were a big part of the social life there. This is expressed in other poems in the Hyakunin Isshu, such as poem 18 or in the Gossamer Years. A woman who’s reputation was marred by an embarrassing incident, bad fashion choice or an unfaithful spouse would lose her standing in the court, and may not recover. She couldn’t really go pick up and start a new life either.

The motif tear-soaked sleeves was a popular poetic device, and you can find it in other poems in the Hyakunin Isshu, poem 42 for example. Sleeves (袖, sodé) in general are featured in a surprising number of poems from the Hyakunin Isshu:

• Sleeves covered in dew from the overnight watch (poem 1)
• Sleeves of a Buddhist monk, shielding the world (poem 95)
• Pollen covered sleeves (poem 15)

Further, fashion in this time was somewhat different than the kimono we are familiar with from the medieval Japanese era. The photo above, taken by ロリ (CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons) is an example of the jū-ni-hitoé (十二単) robes worn by ladies of the court during formal occasions. This multi-layered garment was difficult to put on as it comprised of up to 12 layers of garments. It was also difficult to walk in. And yet the junihitoé is an iconic fashion for the time, and as we can see in the Diary of Lady Murasaki, women of the Court would be heavily scrutinized for their sense of taste during such occasions.

It’s not hard to imagine a broken-hearted woman with tear-soaked sleeves nevertheless, and how it became an important expression of Japanese sentiment at the time.