Hitori nuru kusa no makura no utsuriga wa kakine no ume no nioi narikeri

ひとり寝る草の枕の移り香は
垣根の梅の匂ひなりけり

Roma-ji: Hitori nuru kusa no makura no utsuriga wa kakine no ume no nioi narikeri
English Translation: Sleeping all alone,
on this pillow made of grass
the scent that lingers
is the fragrance of the plum
blooming by the hedge, I find.
Meaning: The scent that has clung to my grass pillow as I sleep alone on my journey is, I find, the fragrance of the plum blooming by the hedge.
Commentary: Spring Poems 43

Headnote: "Plum blossoms at a lodging on a journey"
The topic is plum blossoms at a lodging on a journey. The poet finds a scent lingering on his pillow after sleeping alone on the road, and realizes it is the fragrance of the plum blooming by the hedge.
Utsuriga normally means the scent of a lover that clings to robes or pillow after a night together. By making the lingering scent on a lonely traveller's pillow that of a plum rather than a person, the poem expresses both the solitude of travel and the elegance of the plum.

First line, “hitori nuru”: sleeping alone, without a companion.
Second line, “kusa no makura no”: the pillow of grass, meaning sleeping on a journey, from the practice of binding grass into a pillow.
Third line, “utsuriga wa”: the scent transferred from another, a word from love poetry applied to sleeping on the road.
Fourth line, “kakine no ume no”: of the plum blooming by the inn's hedge.
Fifth line, “nioi narikeri”: it was the plum's fragrance, closing with keri of realization that reveals the source of the scent.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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