Shiratsuyu no kakaru ga yagate kiezaraba kusaba zo tama no kushige naramashi - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

白露のかかるがやがて消えざらば
草葉ぞ玉の櫛笥ならまし

Roma-ji: Shiratsuyu no kakaru ga yagate kiezaraba kusaba zo tama no kushige naramashi
English Translation: If the clear white dew
that settles here would not fade
away so quickly,
the grass blades would become
a casket for its jewels.
Meaning: If the white dew that rests here did not vanish so soon, the grass blades would be a jewel casket for it.
Commentary: Book Seven Names of Things 367

Headnote: "Karukaya (lemongrass)"
The poet says that if the white dew resting on the grass did not vanish, the grass blades would become a casket holding jewels. Likening the dew on the grass to jewels, the poem expresses regret at the brevity of the dew, and hides the name "karukaya" given in the headnote in the run of sounds "kakaru ga yagate" in the second line. The headnote names the thing hidden in the poem.
Tadamine, that is, Mibu no Tadamine, was one of the compilers of the Kokinshū and the father of Mibu no Tadami, and he is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "shiratsuyu no," means "the white dew."
Second line, "kakaru ga yagate," means "that rests here, soon." "Kakaru ga ya" hides the name "karukaya."
Third line, "kiezaraba," means "if it did not vanish," the irrealis form with "ba" expressing a supposition.
Fourth line, "kusaba zo tama no," means "the grass blades, of jewels," likening the dew to jewels, emphasized by the particle "zo."
Final line, "kushige naramashi," means "would be a casket," with "mashi" an auxiliary supposing what is contrary to fact, resolving "zo" in its attributive form.
Author: Mibu no Tadamine
Source: Shui Wakashu
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