Waga yado no obana ga ue no shiratsuyu o ketazute tama ni nuku mono ni mo ga

我が宿の尾花が上の白露を
消たずて玉に貫くものにもが

Roma-ji: Waga yado no obana ga ue no shiratsuyu o ketazute tama ni nuku mono ni mo ga
English Translation: In my garden here,
upon the pampas plumes
the white dew lies:
if only, not letting it fade,
I could string it into beads
Meaning: The white dew on the pampas plumes in my garden: if only I could string it into beads without letting it vanish.
Commentary: Book Eight Autumn Miscellaneous Poems 1572

Headnote: "A poem on the white dew by Ōtomo no Yakamochi"
The poet wishes he could string the white dew on the pampas plumes in his garden into beads without letting it vanish. Seeing dew as beads, he expresses the wish to keep its fleeting beauty in hand.
The author, Ōtomo no Yakamochi, was a son of Ōtomo no Tabito and an official of the Nara period. He rose to the post of Middle Counselor, is thought to have been closely involved in compiling the Man'yōshū, and left more poems than anyone else in the anthology.

The first line names his own garden.
The second line means "upon the pampas plumes." Heki no Nagae no Otome's 1564 in this book also sings of "the dew that settles on the pampas plumes," likening its vanishing to love.
The third line names the white dew lying on the plumes.
The fourth line means "without letting it fade, into beads." Prince Yuhara's 1618 in this book likewise sings of stringing the white dew on bush clover into beads "without letting it fade," sharing the conceit of making dew into beads.
The final line, with the desiderative "mo ga," wishes it were something that could be strung.
Author: Otomo no Yakamochi
Source: Manyoshu
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