Mame naredo nani zo wa yokeku karukaya no midarete aredo ashikeku mo nashi - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

まめなれど何ぞはよけくかるかやの
乱れてあれど悪しけくもなし

Roma-ji: Mame naredo nani zo wa yokeku karukaya no midarete aredo ashikeku mo nashi
English Translation: Though one is upright,
what good is there, after all?
like the tangled grass,
though one's life is in disarray,
there is nothing bad in it
Meaning: What good comes of being earnest? Even if one is tangled like the karukaya grass, there is nothing wrong with it.
Commentary: Book Nineteen Miscellaneous Forms 1052

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poem mocks a life of strict earnestness and defiantly holds that a somewhat disorderly life does no harm. Pairing the archaic nominal forms "yokeku" and "ashikeku" gives it its haikai quality.
The author is unknown and is recorded as "Anonymous."

First line, "Mame naredo," uses "mame," earnest or sincere: even though one is earnest.
Second line, "nani zo wa yokeku," uses "yokeku," the nominal form of "yoshi": what good is there? It is rhetorical.
Third line, "karukaya no," names a grass whose plumes tangle easily, leading into "midare."
Fourth line, "midarete aredo," pairs with "mame naredo" in the first line.
Fifth line, "ashikeku mo nashi," uses "ashikeku," the nominal form of "ashi," pairing with "yokeku" in the second line.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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