Kesa mireba sanagara shimo o itadakite okinasabiyuku shiragiku no hana - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

今朝見ればさながら霜をいただきて
翁さびゆく白菊の花

Roma-ji: Kesa mireba sanagara shimo o itadakite okinasabiyuku shiragiku no hana
English Translation: Looking this morning,
with the frost all upon it
borne upon its head,
how it grows old like an elder,
the white chrysanthemum
Meaning: Looking this morning, I see the white chrysanthemum bearing the frost upon its head, growing old like a white-haired elder.
Commentary: Book Five Autumn Poems II 346

Headnote: "Composed on 'Lingering Chrysanthemums' at a poetry contest held at the house of the Hosshōji Lay Priest and Former Chancellor when he was Palace Minister"
Composed on the topic "Lingering Chrysanthemums" at a poetry contest held at the residence of Fujiwara no Tadamichi, the Hosshōji Lay Priest and Former Chancellor, when he was Palace Minister. Looking this morning, the poet says, the white chrysanthemum wears the frost upon its head just as it fell and grows old like a white-haired elder. Likening frost to white hair and the chrysanthemum past its prime to an old man, he depicts lingering chrysanthemums left behind by the season.
The author, "Fujiwara no Mototoshi," was the son of Minister of the Right Fujiwara no Toshiie. A leading figure of the poetry world of the cloistered-rule period alongside Minamoto no Toshiyori, he was the teacher of Fujiwara no Shunzei. A poem of his is included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.
The five poems from 346 through 350 of this book are poems on chrysanthemums, and 346, 348 and 350 all end with "shiragiku no hana," the white chrysanthemum.

First line, "kesa mireba": "looking this morning," the discovery of a morning when frost has fallen.
Second line, "sanagara shimo o": "sanagara" means "just as it is, entirely."
Third line, "itadakite": "itadaku" is to bear on one's head, likening the frost to white hair.
Fourth line, "okinasabiyuku": "okinasabu" is to grow like an old man, a personification of the white chrysanthemum as one growing old. It shows the topic's "lingering" flower past its prime.
Fifth line, "shiragiku no hana": the poem ends on a noun. 348 and 350 of this book share this last line.
Author: Fujiwara no Mototoshi
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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