Kusa no ito ni nuku shiratama to mietsuru wa aki no musuberu tsuyu ni zo arikeru - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

草の糸に貫く白玉と見えつるは
秋の結べる露にぞありける

Roma-ji: Kusa no ito ni nuku shiratama to mietsuru wa aki no musuberu tsuyu ni zo arikeru
English Translation: Upon threads of grass
strung like white jewels, so it seemed,
what I saw shining
was the dew that autumn's hand
had gathered and tied there
Meaning: What looked like white jewels strung on threads of grass was the dew that autumn had tied there.
Commentary: Book Five Autumn Poems I 270

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
The poet says that what looked like white jewels strung on threads of grass was the dew that autumn had tied there. Likening the dew that glitters in a row along the grass to white jewels threaded on a string, it expresses the beauty of autumn.
It is placed at the end of the first autumn book. Where the opening poem, 217, announced autumn's arrival through the wind on its first day, this closing poem shows autumn deepening through the dew that forms on the grass, so that the beginning and end of the book answer each other.
The poet, Fujiwara no Morifumi, was an official of the mid-Heian period. His poems are included in the Gosen Wakashū, but little is known of his life.

The first line, "Kusa no ito ni," means "on threads of grass," likening slender blades and stems of grass to threads. It has an extra syllable.
The second line, "nuku shiratama to," means "as white jewels strung," suggesting pearls on a thread.
In the third line, "tsuru" is the attributive form of the completive auxiliary "tsu": "what appeared to be."
In the fourth line, "ru" is the attributive form of the continuative auxiliary "ri": "that autumn has tied." "Musubu," to tie, is an associated word of "ito" and "nuku," and also carries the sense of dew forming.
The last line, "tsuyu ni zo arikeru," means "it was the dew," with the particle "zo" and the attributive "keru" forming a kakarimusubi pattern. Following 242 and 263 of this book in seeing the dew as something else, it closes the book.
Author: Fujiwara no Morifumi
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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