Sumiyoshi no kishi ni oitaru wasuregusa mizu ya aramashi koi wa shinu tomo - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

住吉の岸に生ひたる忘れ草
見ずやあらまし恋は死ぬとも

Roma-ji: Sumiyoshi no kishi ni oitaru wasuregusa mizu ya aramashi koi wa shinu tomo
English Translation: On Sumiyoshi's
shore there grows the forgetting grass;
shall I not look on it,
not even once, though I may
come to die of love?
Meaning: The forgetting grass grows on the shore of Sumiyoshi—shall I keep from looking at it, even if I should die of love?
Commentary: Book Fourteen Love Poems IV 888

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
The poem asks whether one should refrain from looking at the forgetting grass on the shore of Sumiyoshi, said to make one forget love, even if one should die of love. It sings of an attachment to love so strong that, though there is a way to escape its pain, one would rather bear the pain than forget.
Forgetting grass was believed to make one forget sorrow when worn, and it was sung from early times as a plant growing on the shore of Sumiyoshi.

First line, "Sumiyoshi no," means "of Sumiyoshi" in Settsu Province. It is the same line as the first line of 869 in this book.
Second line, "kishi ni oitaru," means "growing on the shore," with "taru" the attributive of the continuative auxiliary "tari."
Third line, "wasuregusa," is the day lily, a plant believed to make one forget sorrow when worn.
Fourth line, "mizu ya aramashi," means "shall I not look at it," with "ya" interrogative and "mashi" an auxiliary of hesitation. The poem breaks here.
Final line, "koi wa shinu tomo," means "even if I die of love," with "tomo" an adversative supposition. Inverted with the fourth line, it shows a resolve that would not shrink even from dying of love.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
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