Michi no he no obana ga shita no omoigusa imasara sara ni nani o ka omowamu

道の辺の尾花が下の思ひ草
今さらさらに何をか思はむ

Roma-ji: Michi no he no obana ga shita no omoigusa imasara sara ni nani o ka omowamu
English Translation: By the roadside there,
underneath the pampas grass
grows the thought-flower—
now, at this late time, again,
what is left for me to fret?
Meaning: Like the thought-flower growing beneath the pampas grass by the roadside—why should I brood over anything now, after all this?
Commentary: Book Ten Autumn Love Poems 2270

Headnote: "Love Expressed Through Grasses"
Taking as its preface the thought-flower growing beneath pampas grass by the roadside, this poem asks what there is to brood over now, expressing a heart settled on the beloved. Its headnote is "Love Expressed Through Grasses." The name "omoigusa" draws out "omou," to think, and the flower's downcast form is overlaid with a heart that has cast aside doubt and given itself to love.

The first line, "by the roadside," names the place.
The second line, "beneath the pampas grass," names where it grows.
The third line, "omoigusa," is thought to be the broomrape that grows at the roots of pampas grass and blooms nodding. Its name forms a preface leading into "omou."
The fourth line, "imasara sara ni," means now, all over again.
In the last line, "nani o ka omowamu," "ka" is a rhetorical particle in kakari-musubi with the attributive "mu": what would I brood on?
Source: Manyoshu
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