Akihagi no ue ni okitaru shiratsuyu no ke ka mo shinamashi koitsutsu arazu wa

秋萩の上に置きたる白露の
消かもしなまし恋ひつつあらずは

Roma-ji: Akihagi no ue ni okitaru shiratsuyu no ke ka mo shinamashi koitsutsu arazu wa
English Translation: On the autumn clover
resting there, the silver dew—
should I vanish too,
like that dew, rather than be
always longing as I am?
Meaning: Like the white dew lying on the autumn bush clover, should I simply vanish—rather than go on longing like this?
Commentary: Book Ten Autumn Love Poems 2254

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Love Expressed Through Dew"
This poem wonders whether, like white dew lying on the autumn bush clover, it would be better to vanish than go on suffering in love. Overlaying one's own life on fleeting white dew, it shows an earnest wish to escape the pain of love. The lower lines of this poem, "ke ka mo shinamashi koitsutsu arazu wa," recur in 2256 and 2258, forming a cluster of variant poems that change only the upper lines.

The first line, "of the autumn bush clover," names the plant.
The second line, "lying upon it," describes the dew.
The third line, "like the white dew," with the upper lines forming a preface leading into "ke," to vanish.
In the fourth line, "ke ka mo shinamashi," "ka mo" is a question and "mashi" a hesitant intention: should I vanish?
In the last line, "koitsutsu arazu wa," "zu wa" means rather than: rather than go on longing.
Source: Manyoshu
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