Ominaeshi namida ni tsuyu ya okisouru taoreba itodo sode no shioruru - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

女郎花涙に露や置き添ふる
手折ればいとど袖のしをるる

Roma-ji: Ominaeshi namida ni tsuyu ya okisouru taoreba itodo sode no shioruru
English Translation: Maiden flowers:
does your dew lay itself
upon my tears?
For when I pick you, all the more
my sleeves grow drenched and limp
Meaning: Maiden flowers, does your dew settle upon my tears? When I pick you, my sleeves grow all the more drenched and limp.
Commentary: Book Four Autumn Poems I 253

Headnote: "Composed on seeing maiden flowers at a time of grief"
Composed on seeing maiden flowers at a time when the poet was grieving over some sorrow. He wonders whether the dew on the maiden flowers is adding itself to his tears, for when he picks them his sleeves grow all the more drenched and limp. Overlaying the dew on the flowers with his own tears, he shows how, for one sunk in grief, even a lovely flower deepens the sorrow.
The author, "Former Captain of the Left Gate Guards Kinmitsu," is Fujiwara no Kinmitsu, son of Provisional Middle Counselor Fujiwara no Suenari. He served as Provisional Middle Counselor and Captain of the Left Gate Guards but was later removed from office.
Where 251 of this book resolved to pick maiden flowers "though my sleeves be soaked," this poem tells of sleeves wet and limp after picking them.

First line, "ominaeshi": names the subject.
Second line, "namida ni tsuyu ya": the interrogative "ya" links with "souru" in the third line, overlaying the flowers' dew with the poet's tears.
Third line, "okisouru": "settles in addition," the attributive form closing the construction with "ya." The poem pauses here.
Fourth line, "taoreba itodo": "taoru" is to pick by hand and "itodo" means "all the more."
Fifth line, "sode no shioruru": "shioru" means to be soaked and limp, and the attributive ending leaves a lingering note. It takes up "sode wa nuru tomo" in 251 of this book, joining maiden flowers and sleeves.
Author: Fujiwara no Kinmitsu
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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