Tsubana oishi ono no shibafu no asatsuyu o nukichirashikeru tama ka to zo miru - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

茅花生ひし小野の芝生の朝露を
ぬき散らしける玉かとぞ見る

Roma-ji: Tsubana oishi ono no shibafu no asatsuyu o nukichirashikeru tama ka to zo miru
English Translation: Where the cogon grew,
on the turf of the small moor,
the morning dewdrops
I take for jewels slipped from
their string and scattered about
Meaning: The morning dew on the turf of the little moor where cogon flowers grew looks to me like jewels slipped from their string and scattered about.
Commentary: Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Poems III 1187

Headnote: "Composed as an autumn poem when presenting a hundred-poem sequence to Retired Emperor Sutoku"
She composed this as an autumn poem when presenting a hundred-poem sequence to Retired Emperor Sutoku. The morning dew on the turf of the moor where cogon grew, I take for jewels pulled from their string and scattered, she says. Likening the drops of dew scattered on the turf to jewels pulled off their cord, and letting "nuki," pulling, echo the plucking of cogon flowers, she gives the poem its humorous touch.
The author, "Kodaishin of the Hanazono Minister of the Left's household," was a lady-in-waiting in the household of Minamoto no Arihito, the Hanazono Minister of the Left, and a daughter of Sugawara no Arikazu.
It is the eighth of the humorous poems.

First line, "tsubana oishi": a line of six syllables, one over the count. "Tsubana" are the flower spikes of cogon grass, whose young spikes were plucked and eaten, and "oishi" means "where they grew."
Second line, "ono no shibafu no": "ono" is an elegant word for a moor, and "shibafu" is ground where turf grows.
Third line, "asatsuyu o": the same phrase as "asatsuyu o" in the first line of the preceding poem, 1186. Where the preceding poem sang of dew vanished as the sun rose, this poem sings of dew scattered on the turf, pairing dew that is gone with dew that remains.
Fourth line, "nukichirashikeru": "nuki" plays on pulling jewels from their string and on plucking cogon flowers.
Fifth line, "tama ka to zo miru": "zo," an emphatic binding particle, closes with the attributive "miru." The dew is likened to jewels.
Author: Hanazono no Sadaijin-ke no Kodaishin
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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