Omoiide no kemuri ya masan naki hito no hotoke ni nareru konomi miba kimi - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

思ひ出での煙やまさん亡き人の
仏になれるこのみ見ば君

Roma-ji: Omoiide no kemuri ya masan naki hito no hotoke ni nareru konomi miba kimi
English Translation: Will the smoke of
remembrance rise the thicker,
if you see these fruits
of the tree where one became
a Buddha, as the lost one has
Meaning: Will the smoke of remembrance only rise the thicker when you look upon these seeds of the tree beneath which one became a Buddha, as the one now gone has done?
Commentary: Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems III 1226

Headnote: "Hearing that the Minister of the Right was seeking a rosary of bodhi seeds for the memorial rites of the late Fourth Princess, he sent this rosary with a poem attached."
The poet asks whether the smoke of remembrance will rise thicker when the Minister looks on these fruits of the tree where one became a Buddha. Sending a rosary of seeds from the bodhi tree under which the Buddha attained enlightenment, he shares the Minister's grief, saying his longing for his late wife will surely deepen.
According to the headnote, he heard that the Minister of the Right was seeking a bodhi-seed rosary for the memorial rites of the late Fourth Princess, and attached this poem when sending one. The Fourth Princess was Princess Kinshi, fourth daughter of Emperor Daigo and wife of the Minister of the Right Fujiwara no Morosuke. The next poem is Morosuke's reply, and the two form an exchange.
The poet, Priest Shin'en, was a monk of the mid-Heian period, but little is known of his life.

The first line, "Omoiide no," means "of remembrance," with "hi" in "omoi" echoing "hi," fire, an associated word with the "smoke" of the second line.
The second line, "kemuri ya masan," means "will the smoke rise thicker," with the interrogative binding particle "ya" closed by the attributive "masan." The smoke recalls the smoke of cremation, and the poem pauses here.
The third line, "naki hito no," means "the one now gone," meaning Princess Kinshi.
The fourth line, "hotoke ni nareru," means "who became a Buddha," drawing on the Buddha's enlightenment beneath the bodhi tree and overlaying it with the departed one's attaining Buddhahood.
The last line, "konomi miba kimi," is a pivot word on "konomi," both the fruit of a tree and this person: if you see these seeds of the tree. "Miba kimi" is inverted, meaning "if you look on them."
Author: Priest Shin'en
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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