Ika ni sen shinobu no kusa mo tsumiwabinu katami to mieshi ko dani nakereba - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

いかにせんしのぶの草も摘みわびぬ
かたみと見えしこだになければ

Roma-ji: Ika ni sen shinobu no kusa mo tsumiwabinu katami to mieshi ko dani nakereba
English Translation: What am I to do?
The grass of remembrance
I can scarcely pick,
for not even my child, my basket,
keepsake of her, is left to me.
Meaning: What am I to do? I can hardly bring myself to pick the grass of remembrance, for not even the child who seemed her keepsake, not even a basket to hold it, is left.
Commentary: Book Twenty Lament Poems 1310

Headnote: "When someone sent condolences to a man whose child had died after his wife"
The poet asks what to do, for he cannot bear to pick the grass of remembrance, since not even the child who seemed a keepsake remains. The headnote shows it was composed in reply when someone sent condolences to a man who lost his child after his wife. Through the picking of grass he pivots on "ko," basket and child, and "katami," bamboo basket and keepsake, singing of a deep grief: having lost even the child he cherished as his wife's keepsake, he has nothing left by which to remember her.

First line, "ika ni sen," means "what shall I do," and the poem breaks after this first line.
Second line, "shinobu no kusa mo," is a pivot word: "shinobu" is the name of the "hare's-foot fern" and "remembering" the dead.
Third line, "tsumiwabinu," means "I can scarcely pick," with "wabu" meaning to be at a loss. The poem breaks here.
Fourth line, "katami to mieshi," is a pivot word: "katami" means "keepsake" and a bamboo "basket" to hold picked grass.
Final line, "ko dani nakereba," is a pivot word: "ko" means "child" and a "basket" for the grass. "Dani" is a particle that names a lesser thing to imply the greater.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
Prev Poem: Kouru ma ni toshi no kurenaba naki hito no wakare ya itodo tōku narinan
Next Poem: Haru wa hana aki wa momiji to chirihatete tachikakurubeki ko no moto mo nashi