Mireba mazu itodo namida zo morokazura ika ni chigirite kakehanarekemu - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

見ればまづいとど涙ぞもろかづら
いかに契りてかけ離れけむ

Roma-ji: Mireba mazu itodo namida zo morokazura ika ni chigirite kakehanarekemu
English Translation: When I see it, first
all the more my tears spill down,
the double garland—
what pledge of former lives was it
that set me so far apart?
Meaning: When I see it, before all else my tears fall all the more readily; by what bond from a former life have I come to be so far removed from this garland of hollyhock and laurel?
Commentary: Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Poems III 1778

Headnote: "When my hopes had come to nothing and I had shut myself away without taking part in the shrine's service, composed on seeing the hollyhock."
A poem lamenting a self whose hopes were dashed. When he sees the hollyhock of the Kamo Festival, his tears fall all the more, and he wonders by what bond from a former life he has been set so far from this garland. According to the headnote, it was composed on seeing the hollyhock when his hopes had failed and he was shut away without serving at the shrine. The hope mentioned in the headnote is said to refer to his wish for the post of priest at the Tadasu Kawai Shrine, an auxiliary shrine of Shimogamo.
The author, "Kamo no Chōmei," was a son of Kamo no Nagatsugu, a priest of the Shimogamo Shrine. He became a member of Retired Emperor Go-Toba's Poetry Office but later took vows, lived in seclusion at Hino, and wrote the Hōjōki.
The Kamo Festival is held at the Kamo shrines on the middle Day of the Rooster in the fourth month; because the shrine buildings and participants' headgear are decked with hollyhock and laurel, it is also called the Aoi Festival.

The first line, "mireba," means "when I see it," the hollyhock. "Ba" after the realis form marks a condition.
The second line, "mazu itodo namida zo," means "before all, my tears all the more." The particle "zo" singles out the tears strongly.
In the third line, "morokazura," "moro" is a pivot word meaning both "easily moved to tears" and the morokazura, a garland combining hollyhock and laurel.
The fourth line, "ika ni chigirite," means "by what bond." "Chigiri" is karmic connection from a former life.
The last line, "kakehanarekemu," means "have I come to be so far apart?" "Kake" echoes hanging a garland, and "kemu" is an auxiliary of past conjecture. It shows the grief of one separated from the path of shrine service.
Author: Kamo no Chomei
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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