Ayamegusa namida no tama ni nukikaete ori naranu ne o nao zo kaketsuru - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

あやめ草涙の玉に貫きかへて
折ならぬねを猶ぞかけつる

Roma-ji: Ayamegusa namida no tama ni nukikaete ori naranu ne o nao zo kaketsuru
English Translation: The sweet flag's beads
restrung now as beads of tears,
out of all season
its roots, our sobbing voices,
hang here even still
Meaning: The sweet flag of the herbal ball has had its beads restrung as beads of tears, and though it is out of season, it still hangs there with its roots, our sobbing cries.
Commentary: Book Nine Poems of Lament 556

Headnote: "Composed when the Empress Dowager of Biwa Palace, being ill, moved elsewhere to try a change of place and passed away, and afterward Yōmeimon'in, then called the First-Rank Princess, returned to Biwa Palace and found withered sweet flags, herbal balls and the like inside the old curtained dais"
When the Empress Dowager of Biwa Palace, Fujiwara no Kenshi, consort of Emperor Sanjō, fell ill, she moved elsewhere to try a cure by change of place, and died there. Later her daughter, Princess Teishi, then called the First-Rank Princess and afterward Yōmeimon'in, returned to Biwa Palace and found inside the old curtained dais the withered sweet flags and herbal balls hung for the Boys' Festival; this poem was composed on seeing them. The sweet flag has restrung its beads as beads of tears, the poet says, and though it is out of season, still hangs its roots, our crying voices. In the withered herbal ball she sees tears of grief for the mistress they have lost. Kenshi died in the Ninth Month of 1027.
The author, "Ben no Menoto," was the daughter of Fujiwara no Yorinari and served as wet nurse to Princess Teishi.
The next poem, 557, is Gō no Jijū's reply. Poems 572 and 573 of this book also pair the sweet flag's root with the sound of weeping to sing of mourning, using the same conceit.

First line, "ayamegusa": the sweet flag, hung with herbal balls at the Boys' Festival. The next poem, 557, answers with "ayame no kusa wa."
Second line, "namida no tama ni": "as beads of tears," likening tears of grief to the beads of the herbal ball.
Third line, "nukikaete": "restringing the beads."
Fourth line, "ori naranu ne o": "ori" is the season, "though it is not the festival time." "Ne" is a pivot word meaning both the sweet flag's root and the sound of weeping.
Fifth line, "nao zo kaketsuru": the emphatic "zo" closes with "tsuru," the attributive of the perfective "tsu." "Kake" is to hang the roots on the herbal ball and also suggests raising cries of grief.
Author: Ben no Menoto
Source: Senzai Wakashu
Prev Poem: Hitokoe mo kimi ni tsugenan hototogisu kono samidare wa yami ni madou to
Next Poem: Tama nukishi ayame no kusa wa arinagara yodono wa aren mono to ya wa mishi