Wakana ouru haru no nomori ni ware narite ukiyo o hito ni tsumi shirasebaya

若菜生ふる春の野守に我なりて
憂き世を人につみ知らせばや

Roma-ji: Wakana ouru haru no nomori ni ware narite ukiyo o hito ni tsumi shirasebaya
English Translation: Where the young herbs grow,
if I were the warden of
the fields in the spring,
I would teach the world, as they pick,
of the sin of this sad world.
Meaning: I wish I could become the keeper of the spring fields where young herbs grow, and, as people come to pick them, make them know the sorrow and the sin of this world.
Commentary: Spring Poems 23

Headnote: "On the topic “Expressing my feelings through young herbs”"
The topic is expressing one's feelings through young herbs. The poet wishes to become the keeper of the spring fields where young herbs grow, and to teach those who come to pick them that this world is full of sorrow and sin.
Tsumi is a pivot word for picking herbs and for sin, laying the thoughts of impermanence of one who has left the world over a peaceful scene of herb gathering. It is a reflective poem characteristic of Saigyō, gazing at the sorrowful world even amid the pleasures of spring.

First line, “wakana ouru”: where young herbs grow, a line with an extra syllable.
Second line, “haru no nomori ni”: the keeper of the fields in spring, one who watches over the fields and who comes and goes there.
Third line, “ware narite”: I, becoming that keeper.
Fourth line, “ukiyo o hito ni”: to people, about this sorrowful world.
Fifth line, “tsumi shirasebaya”: tsumi is a pivot word meaning both picking herbs and sin, and baya expresses the speaker's wish, closing with the hope of teaching sinfulness even as they pick.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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