Harugasumi tanabiku nobe no wakana ni mo narimiteshi kana hito mo tsumu ya to - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

春霞たなびく野辺の若菜にも
なり見てしかな人も摘むやと

Roma-ji: Harugasumi tanabiku nobe no wakana ni mo narimiteshi kana hito mo tsumu ya to
English Translation: Where spring haze lingers
trailing over the meadows,
if only I could be
a young green herb in the field—
perhaps then you'd gather me
Meaning: I wish I could become one of the young greens in the fields where the spring haze trails, thinking that then you too might come and pick me.
Commentary: Book Nineteen Miscellaneous Forms 1031

Headnote: "A poem from the poetry contest held at the Empress's palace in the Kanpyō era"
Composed for the poetry contest at the Empress's palace in the Kanpyō era, the poem wishes that, since the beloved pays no heed, the poet might at least become a young green and be gathered. Expressing a lover's wish through the fanciful idea of turning into a spring herb is what makes it a haikai poem.
The author, "Fujiwara Okikaze," is Fujiwara no Okikaze. The son of Fujiwara no Michinari, he held provincial posts in Sagami and Shimōsa. Also skilled at the koto, he is one of the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "Harugasumi," is the subject of "tanabiku," painting the spring meadow.
Second line, "tanabiku nobe no," means the fields where haze stretches low.
Third line, "wakana ni mo," uses "mo" for at least, even if only.
Fourth line, "narimiteshi kana," expresses a wish with "teshi kana": how I would like to become. The poem breaks here and is inverted with the fifth line.
Fifth line, "hito mo tsumu ya to," uses interrogative "ya" and causal "to": hoping that you too might pick me.
Author: Fujiwara no Okikaze
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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