The poem is included in Fujiwara no Teika’s 藤原定家 (1162–1241) personal collection Shūi Gusō 拾遺愚草 (Gleanings of Worthless Weeds), where it is found among the twenty poems ordered by the Retired Emperor on the twelfth month of the second year (1212) of Kenryaku 建暦 (1211–1213), as one of five poems on miscellaneous topics:
My hopes, –
like empty dreams
broken midway:
even if you are to break, do not break,
oh jeweled string of this bitter life.
思ふこと | Omou koto |
むなしき夢の | munashiki yume no |
なかぞらに | nakazora ni |
たゆともたゆな | tayu tomo tayu na |
つらき玉の緒 | tsuraki tama no wo |