Shinobugusa ika naru tsuyu ka okitsuramu kesa wa ne mo mina arawarenikeri - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

忍ぶ草いかなる露か置きつらむ
今朝はねもみなあらはれにけり

Roma-ji: Shinobugusa ika naru tsuyu ka okitsuramu kesa wa ne mo mina arawarenikeri
English Translation: On the shinobu fern
what sort of dew could it be
that came to settle?
This morning even its roots
have all been laid bare to see.
Meaning: What sort of dew has settled on the shinobu fern? This morning even its roots—my secret nights—have all been laid bare.
Commentary: Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Poems III 1734

Headnote: "When I was visiting a certain place, Captain Asamitsu and I came face to face; we talked the whole night through, and the day after I went home, I sent this."
This is the third of the poems on the shinobu fern. What dew has settled on the fern, that this morning its roots are all laid bare? According to the headnote, he had been secretly visiting a certain place, ran into Fujiwara no Asamitsu there, talked with him all night, and sent this the next day. He likens his embarrassment at his secret visits being discovered to the roots of the fern being exposed.
The author, "Captain of the Right Naritoki," is Fujiwara no Naritoki. A son of Fujiwara no Morotada, he rose to Major Counselor and held a captaincy. His daughter Seishi became empress to Emperor Sanjō.

The first line, "shinobugusa," takes up the two preceding poems. The fern's name, "hiding," is overlaid with the sense of visiting in secret.
In the second line, "ika naru tsuyu ka," "ka" is a particle of question. The dew stands for the man he unexpectedly met.
The third line, "okitsuramu," closes the kakari-musubi of "ka" with the attributive form of the present conjectural "ramu." It wonders whether dew has settled there, and the poem pauses here.
In the fourth line, "kesa wa ne mo mina," "ne" is a pivot word meaning both the fern's "roots" and "sleeping together."
In the last line, "arawarenikeri," "keri" expresses realization. As roots are exposed, so his secret has been found out, and he laments it with a touch of play.
Author: Fujiwara no Naritoki
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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