Miru ga nao kono yo no mono to oboenu wa karanadeshiko no hana ni zo arikeru - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

見るがなほこの世のものと覚えぬは
唐撫子の花にぞありける

Roma-ji: Miru ga nao kono yo no mono to oboenu wa karanadeshiko no hana ni zo arikeru
English Translation: What, the more I look,
seems still less to be a thing
of this world of ours
is the blossom, I find,
of the China pink
Meaning: What, the longer I look, still seems not to belong to this world is the flower of the China pink.
Commentary: Book Three Summer Poems 206

Headnote: "Composed on seeing the pinks in full bloom"
Composed on seeing pinks in full bloom. The more she looks, the poet says, the more it seems that what is not of this world is this China pink. Making use of "kara," China, in the name of the pink brought from abroad, she praises its unearthly beauty.
The author, "Izumi Shikibu," was the daughter of Ōe no Masamune, Governor of Echizen. She became the wife of Tachibana no Michisada, Governor of Izumi, and later served Fujiwara no Shōshi, consort of Emperor Ichijō. Known for passionate love poems, she has a poem in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.

First line, "miru ga nao": "nao" means "still, all the more": "as I look, still."
Second line, "kono yo no mono to": "a thing of this world." Following "kono yo to omou ni" in 202 and "kono yo ni mo" in 205 of this book, the words "this world" appear yet again.
Third line, "oboenu wa": "oboyu" means to seem, and "nu" is the attributive of the negative "zu."
Fourth line, "karanadeshiko no": the China pink, brought from China and also called sekichiku. The word "kara" suggests a foreign beauty not of this world.
Fifth line, "hana ni zo arikeru": "zo" closes with the attributive "keru." The next poem, 207, also speaks of the pink under its other name, "tokonatsu."
Author: Izumi Shikibu
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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