Aki no no ni oku shiratsuyu no kiezaraba tama ni nukite mo kakete mitemashi - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

秋の野に置く白露の消えざらば
玉に貫きてもかけて見てまし

Roma-ji: Aki no no ni oku shiratsuyu no kiezaraba tama ni nukite mo kakete mitemashi
English Translation: If the white dew laid
on the autumn fields would not
vanish, I would
string it on a thread like jewels
and hang it up to gaze on
Meaning: If the white dew on the autumn fields did not vanish, I would string it like jewels and hang it up to gaze upon.
Commentary: Book Six Autumn Poems II 312

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
The poet says that if the white dew on the autumn fields did not vanish, it could be strung as jewels and hung up to gaze upon. Regretting the frailty of dew that vanishes, it expresses a wish that cannot be fulfilled.
Following 305 and 307 of this book, it sings of stringing dew as jewels on a thread.
The poet is listed as "anonymous," and the composer's name has not come down to us. The text gives the poet as "yomibito mo," which is treated here as "anonymous."

The first line, "Aki no no ni," means "on the autumn fields," the same opening as 309 of this book.
The second line, "oku shiratsuyu no," means "the white dew that lies there," the same words as "oku shiratsuyu o" in the second line of 309.
In the third line, "zara" is the irrealis form of the negative auxiliary "zu," and "ba" gives a hypothetical condition: "if it did not vanish."
The fourth line, "tama ni nukite mo," means "even stringing it as jewels." It voices the same wish as "ketazute tama ni nuku" in 305 of this book.
In the last line, "mashi" is an auxiliary of counterfactual supposition, answering the third line: "I would hang it up and gaze."
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
Prev Poem: Shiratama no aki no ko no ha ni yadoreru to miyuru wa tsuyu no hakaru narikeri
Next Poem: Karakoromo sode kutsuru made oku tsuyu wa waga mi o aki no no to ya miruran