Ukimi nite kiku mo oshiki wa uguisu no kasumi ni musebu akebono no yama

憂き身にて聞くも惜しきは鶯の
霞にむせぶ曙の山

Roma-ji: Ukimi nite kiku mo oshiki wa uguisu no kasumi ni musebu akebono no yama
English Translation: A wretch such as I,
it seems a waste that I should hear
the warbler's sweet voice
choking in the haze at dawn
upon the mountain's slope.
Meaning: What seems too precious for one as wretched as I to hear is the warbler on the dawn mountain, its voice choking in the haze.
Commentary: Spring Poems 24

Headnote: "Expressing my feelings through the warbler"
The topic is expressing one's feelings through the warbler. On the mountain at dawn, the warbler's voice, choked as if by the haze, is so lovely that it seems a waste for someone as sorrowful as the poet to hear it.
Even before the beauty of spring, the poet cannot help thinking of his own sorrow. Following the preceding poem's reflections through young herbs, this poem continues the same theme of personal sorrow through the warbler.

First line, “ukimi nite”: I, a person of many sorrows.
Second line, “kiku mo oshiki wa”: what is a pity even to hear, the feeling that someone like oneself is unworthy of such beauty.
Third line, “uguisu no”: the warbler, subject of the fourth line.
Fourth line, “kasumi ni musebu”: choking in the haze, likening the warbler's song to human weeping.
Fifth line, “akebono no yama”: the poem closes on a noun, the mountain at dawn where the warbler's voice echoes.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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