Akihagi wa mazu sasu e yori utsurou o tsuyu no waku to wa omowazaranamu - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

秋萩はまづさす枝より移ろふを
露の分くとは思はざらなむ

Roma-ji: Akihagi wa mazu sasu e yori utsurou o tsuyu no waku to wa omowazaranamu
English Translation: The bush clover of autumn
turns from the branches that first grew;
so I would ask you
not to think it is the dew
that makes distinctions in its tint.
Meaning: The autumn bush clover changes color from the branches that grew out first, so please do not think that the dew is playing favorites in tinting it.
Commentary: Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems II 515

Headnote: "In answer"
The poet answers that the autumn bush clover changes color beginning with the branches that grew out first, and that the dew makes no distinctions. Responding to Korehira's question in 513, two poems earlier, he offers reasoning different from Mitsune's in the preceding poem, 514, saying that the order of coloring follows the order in which the branches grew. Where Mitsune answered with a scene by bringing in the deer, Tadamine answers from the nature of the bush clover itself, and the two answers form a pair.
The author, written as "Tadamine," is Mibu no Tadamine. One of the compilers of the Kokinshū, he is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "akihagi wa," means "the bush clover of autumn," beginning the answer with the same words as the third line of the preceding poem, 514, "akihagi wa."
Second line, "mazu sasu e yori," means "from the branches that grew out first," with "sasu" meaning for branches to stretch out. It is a hypermetric line.
Third line, "utsurou o," means "since it changes color," with "o" a causal particle.
Fourth line, "tsuyu no waku to wa," means "that the dew makes distinctions," taking up the white dew of Korehira's question.
Final line, "omowazaranamu," means "I would have you not think," with "namu" a final particle expressing a wish directed at another.
Author: Mibu no Tadamine
Source: Shui Wakashu
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