Waga yado no obana ga ue no shiratsuyu o ketazute tama ni nuku mono ni moga - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

わ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 moga
English Translation: On the pampas plumes
of my garden, the white dew—
without letting it vanish,
if only I could string it
as jewels on a thread
Meaning: If only I could string the white dew on the pampas plumes of my garden into jewels, without letting it vanish.
Commentary: Book Six Autumn Poems II 305

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
The poet wishes it were possible to string the white dew on the pampas plumes of the garden as jewels, without letting it vanish. It expresses the wish to keep as jewels the beauty of dew that soon disappears.
Almost the same poem appears in Book Eight of the Man'yōshū as a poem by Ōtomo no Yakamochi.
The poet is listed as "anonymous," and the composer's name has not come down to us.

The first line, "Waga yado no," means "of my house," the same opening as 299 of this book.
The second line, "obana ga ue no," means "on the pampas plumes."
The third line, "shiratsuyu o," means "the white dew," continuing from the preceding poem with white dew.
The fourth line, "ketazute tama ni," means "as jewels without letting it vanish." 307 and 312 of this book also sing of stringing white dew as jewels.
In the last line, "moga" is a particle of wish: "if only it were something I could thread."
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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