Ozasahara kaze matsu tsuyu no kieyarazu kono hitofushi o omoioku kana - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

小笹原風待つ露の消えやらず
このひとふしを思ひおくかな

Roma-ji: Ozasahara kaze matsu tsuyu no kieyarazu kono hitofushi o omoioku kana
English Translation: Like dew on bamboo grass
that waits for the wind to blow,
not yet vanished quite,
this one matter, like a node,
I leave behind in my heart.
Meaning: Like dew on the bamboo grass awaiting the wind, not yet quite vanished, I leave behind this one concern in my heart.
Commentary: Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Poems III 1822

Headnote: "Sent to Minister of Popular Affairs Norimitsu when I felt my illness to be mortal, to ask about Teika Ason's transfer to Middle Captain."
This is the fifth of the poems expressing thoughts through plants and trees. Like dew on bamboo grass awaiting the wind, his life is about to vanish but has not yet, and he leaves behind this one concern. According to the headnote, when his illness seemed mortal he sent it to Fujiwara no Norimitsu, Minister of Popular Affairs, to request the transfer of his son Teika to Middle Captain. It tells of a father's heart still anxious for his son's advancement at death's door.
The author, "Kōtaigōgū no Daibu Shunzei," is Fujiwara no Shunzei. A son of Fujiwara no Toshitada, he compiled the Senzai Wakashū. He was the father of Fujiwara no Teika.
Fujiwara no Norimitsu was a close retainer of Retired Emperor Go-Toba and served as Minister of Popular Affairs.

The first line, "ozasahara," is a field of low bamboo grass. From the kudzu leaves of the preceding poems it moves to bamboo grass.
The second line, "kaze matsu tsuyu no," means "dew awaiting the wind," dew that scatters at the first breath, a figure for a life near its end.
The third line, "kieyarazu," means "not yet wholly vanished," a life not yet spent.
In the fourth line, "kono hitofushi o," "hitofushi" is a pivot word meaning both one node of the bamboo and one matter. It refers to the single concern of Teika's transfer.
In the last line, "omoioku kana," "oku" means leaving a thought behind and also the dew settling. "Kana" is exclamatory, showing the depth of a father's concern for his son before death. It echoes the father straying on the path of love for his children in 1814 of this book.
Author: Fujiwara no Shunzei
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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