Hyakunin Isshu: Meet the Poets
Sagami

Meaning

My sleeves are never dry — and I grieve not for myself, but that my name as a lover will be ruined before it is known.

Commentary

Wet sleeves from crying are a conventional image; here the speaker heightens it — constant weeping hasn't destroyed her sleeves, but the scandal of her love is destroying her reputation (na = name/fame). The contrast between the physical and the social makes this poem elegantly pointed.

Sagami was a court lady and one of the most active poets in mid-Heian literary circles. She participated in many poetry competitions and left a substantial body of verse. She was known for her passionate and sometimes unconventional love poetry, which placed her at the forefront of the female poetic tradition of her era.

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