No o mireba harumekinikeri aotsuzura ko ni ya kumamashi wakana tsumu beku - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

野を見れば春めきにけり青つづら
こにやくままし若菜摘むべく

Roma-ji: No o mireba harumekinikeri aotsuzura ko ni ya kumamashi wakana tsumu beku
English Translation: When I see the moor,
how springlike it has become!
With green vine, shall I
weave a basket, I wonder,
for gathering the young greens?
Meaning: Looking at the moor, I see it has grown springlike; shall I weave a basket of green vine for gathering young greens?
Commentary: Book Seven Names of Things 399

Headnote: "Konyaku (devil's tongue)"
Seeing that the moor has grown springlike, the poet wonders whether to weave a basket of green vine for gathering young greens. Singing of the lift of the heart in spring at the thought of picking greens, the poem hides the name "konyaku" given in the headnote in the run of sounds "ko ni ya kumamashi" in the fourth line. The headnote names the thing hidden in the poem.
The author, written as Sukemi, is Fujiwara no Sukemi. A son of Fujiwara no Hirotsune, he was a mid-Heian poet known as Tōroku. He excelled at poems hiding the names of things, and his personal collection is the Tōrokushū.

First line, "no o mireba," means "when I look at the moor," the perfective form with "ba."
Second line, "harumekinikeri," means "it has grown springlike," and the poem pauses here. Following the spring haze of the preceding poem, the spring moor is sung of.
Third line, "aotsuzura," is a vine used to weave baskets.
Fourth line, "ko ni ya kumamashi," means "shall I weave it into a basket," with "ya" questioning and "mashi" expressing hesitant intention. It hides the name "konyaku."
Final line, "wakana tsumu beku," means "so as to gather young greens."
Author: Fujiwara no Sukemi
Source: Shui Wakashu
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