Oku tsuyu no kakaru mono to wa omoedomo karesenu mono wa nadeshiko no hana - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

おく露のかかる物とは思へども
かれせぬ物はなでしこの花

Roma-ji: Oku tsuyu no kakaru mono to wa omoedomo karesenu mono wa nadeshiko no hana
English Translation: The dew that settles
is, I know, a fleeting thing,
hanging just like this—
but what will never wither
is the pink, the nadeshiko
Meaning: I know that, like the dew that settles and clings, all is fleeting—yet what never withers, what never turns away, is the nadeshiko flower.
Commentary: Book Ten Love Poems II 698

Headnote: "Though she had written back in this way, she served at court and had no leisure; the next morning she sent this attached to a pink flower."
The poet says that though things are fleeting as settling dew, what never withers and never turns away is the nadeshiko. Entrusting transience to the dew and unchanging feeling to the unwithering pink, the poem conveys that their bond will not end.
According to the headnote, the reply had come, but since the sender served at court and had no leisure, the next morning this was sent attached to a pink. The author is given in the text as Minamoto no Moroakira, but from the context of the headnote it can also be read as a poem sent by the woman in court service. The next poem, 699, is a reply to it.
The poet, called "Minamoto no Moroakira Ason," is Minamoto no Moroakira. A grandson of Emperor Uda and a son of Prince Tokiyo, he served as Middle Counselor.

The first line, "Oku tsuyu no," means "of the dew that settles on the leaves."
In the second line, "kakaru" is a pivot word joining dew that "clings" and "kakaru," such as this.
The third line, "omoedomo," means "though I think so."
In the fourth line, "kare" is a pivot word joining flowers that "wither" and people who "drift apart." The next poem, 699, answers by opening with "karezu tomo."
The last line, "nadeshiko no hana," is the pink, referring to the flower in the headnote and suggesting "nadeshi ko," a cherished child. The poem closes with a noun.
Author: Minamoto no Moroakira
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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