Tsuyu dani mo nakaramashikaba aki no yo ni tare to okiite hito o matamashi - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

露だにもなからましかば秋の夜に
誰とおきゐて人を待たまし

Roma-ji: Tsuyu dani mo nakaramashikaba aki no yo ni tare to okiite hito o matamashi
English Translation: If there were not even
the dew to settle on the grass,
through the autumn night
with whom would I stay awake
as I wait for one who's gone?
Meaning: If there were not even the dew, with whom would I sit up through the autumn night, waiting for the one I love?
Commentary: Book Twelve Love Poems II 774

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poem asks with whom, if there were not even the dew, the poet would sit up through the autumn night waiting for the beloved. Pivoting "oki" on dew "settling" and a person "staying up," it sees the dew that settles on the grass all night as the only companion of one who sits up waiting for someone who does not come, expressing the loneliness of a night of waiting. It uses the same line "nakaramashikaba" as 715, which said "if there were no dawn." From here to the end of the book follow poems on autumn imagery.

First line, "tsuyu dani mo," means "if even the dew," with "dani" meaning "at least, even."
Second line, "nakaramashikaba," means "were not there," with "mashika" the irrealis form of the counterfactual auxiliary "mashi" and "ba" expressing supposition. It is the same line as the second line of 715 in this book, "nakaramashikaba."
Third line, "aki no yo ni," means "on the autumn night."
Fourth line, "tare to okiite," is a pivot word: "oki" means dew "settling" and a person "staying up," giving "with whom would I sit up."
Final line, "hito o matamashi," means "would I wait for my love," with "mashi" the counterfactual auxiliary answering "mashikaba" in the second line.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
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