Aki no no no kusa wa ito to mo mienaku ni oku shiratsuyu o tama to nukuran - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

秋の野の草は糸とも見えなくに
置く白露を玉と貫くらん

Roma-ji: Aki no no no kusa wa ito to mo mienaku ni oku shiratsuyu o tama to nukuran
English Translation: The grass of the fields
in autumn looks nothing like
thread to me, and yet
why is the dew that settles there
strung on it like jewels
Meaning: The grass of the autumn fields does not look like thread at all—so why is the white dew that settles on it strung like jewels?
Commentary: Book Six Autumn Poems II 307

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "When, in the Engi era, the emperor called for poems."
The poet wonders why the grass of the autumn fields, which does not look like thread at all, has the settling white dew strung on it like jewels. It is a witty poem likening dew glittering in a row along the grass to jewels strung on a thread.
From 306 to 309, four poems on white dew stand together under the headnote "When, in the Engi era, the emperor called for poems." 270, the closing poem of Book Five, likewise likens grass to thread and dew to white jewels.
The poet, called "Tsurayuki," is Ki no Tsurayuki. A son of Ki no Mochiyuki, he was the leading compiler of the Kokin Wakashū and wrote its kana preface. He served as governor of Tosa among other posts, is known as the author of the Tosa Diary, and is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

The first line, "Aki no no no," means "of the autumn fields."
The second line, "kusa wa ito to mo," means "the grass as thread," likening slender blades of grass to threads.
In the third line, "naku ni" means "though it does not."
The fourth line, "oku shiratsuyu o," means "the white dew that settles," taking up "okeru shiratsuyu" in the preceding poem.
In the last line, "ran" is an auxiliary conjecturing a cause: "why is it strung as jewels?" It shares the conceit of "tama ni nuku" in 305, and the next poem, 308, answers with "tsuranuki tomenu tama."
Author: Ki no Tsurayuki
Source: Gosen Wakashu
Prev Poem: Saoshika no tachinarasu ono no akihagi ni okeru shiratsuyu ware mo kenubeshi
Next Poem: Shiratsuyu ni kaze no fukishiku aki no no wa tsuranuki tomenu tama zo chirikeru