Motomete mo kakaru hachisu no tsuyu o okite ukiyo ni mata wa kaeru mono ka wa - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

求めてもかかる蓮の露をおきて
憂き世にまたは帰るものかは

Roma-ji: Motomete mo kakaru hachisu no tsuyu o okite ukiyo ni mata wa kaeru mono ka wa
English Translation: Worth seeking out,
such dew upon the lotus,
should I leave it be
and to the sorrowful world
go back again? Never
Meaning: Would I set aside such dew on the lotus, a thing worth seeking out, and go back again to this sorrowful world? I would not.
Commentary: Book Nineteen Buddhist Poems 1206

Headnote: "Sent when I had gone to hear the lectures at a meeting held to form ties with the Buddha at a temple called Bodai, and someone sent word telling me to come home quickly"
When a lecture meeting to form ties with the Buddha was held at a temple called Bodai, she had gone to listen, and someone sent word urging her to come home at once, so she sent this poem. Should I set aside this dew on the lotus, worth seeking out, and return to the sorrowful world? she says. The dew on the lotus stands for the precious teaching of the Lotus Sutra, and she answers firmly to the one urging her home that she cannot go back to the world without hearing such blessed preaching. This occasion is also recorded in The Pillow Book.
The author, "Sei Shōnagon," was a daughter of Kiyohara no Motosuke and served Empress Teishi, consort of Emperor Ichijō. She is known as the author of The Pillow Book and is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets of the middle ages.

First line, "motomete mo": "even if one had to seek it," expressing a thing so precious one would go in search of it.
Second line, "kakaru hachisu no": "kakaru" means "such as this," and the lotus, blooming pure out of the mud, stands for the teaching of the Lotus Sutra.
Third line, "tsuyu o okite": a line of six syllables, one over the count. The dew resting on the lotus is the precious teaching of the sermon, and "oki" plays on dew settling and on setting something aside.
Fourth line, "ukiyo ni mata wa": "back again to the sorrowful world."
Fifth line, "kaeru mono ka wa": "mono ka wa" is rhetorical, "would I go back? Never."
Author: Sei Shōnagon
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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