Keburi tachi moyu tomo mienu kusa no ha o tare ka warabi to nazuke somekemu - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

煙たち燃ゆとも見えぬ草の葉を
誰かわらびと名づけそめけむ

Roma-ji: Keburi tachi moyu tomo mienu kusa no ha o tare ka warabi to nazuke somekemu
English Translation: No smoke rising up,
nor does it seem to be burning—
this leaf of a plant;
who was it, then, that first gave it
the name of warabi, "straw fire"?
Meaning: No smoke rises from it, and it does not seem to burn at all—so who was it that first named this plant "warabi," a fire of straw?
Commentary: Book Ten Names of Things 453

Headnote: "Bracken"
This poem wonders who first named "warabi" a plant whose leaves show no smoke and no sign of burning. Taking "warabi" (bracken) in the fourth line as "straw fire," it is wordplay that questions why something that is not fire bears the name of fire, stating the title outright while layering another meaning on it.
The poet, "Shinsei Hōshi," is the Monk Shinsei. He appears to have been a monk of the early Heian period, but the details of his life are not known.

First line "Keburi tachi" means "smoke rising," beginning a chain of words associated with fire.
Second line "moyu tomo mienu" means "not seeming to burn," and "moyu" (burn) is an associated word with "keburi" (smoke) in the first line.
Third line "kusa no ha o" means "the leaves of the plant called bracken."
Fourth line "tare ka warabi to" uses the interrogative particle "ka," and "warabi" puns on bracken and "straw fire." The "fire" is an associated word with "smoke" and "burn."
Fifth line "nazuke somekemu" closes in the attributive "kemu" in answer to "ka," conjecturing about the past: who first gave it this name?
Author: The Monk Shinsei
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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