Nakanaka ni kaze no hosu ni zo midarekeru ame ni nuretaru aoyagi no ito

なかなかに風の干すにぞ乱れける
雨に濡れたる青柳の糸

Roma-ji: Nakanaka ni kaze no hosu ni zo midarekeru ame ni nuretaru aoyagi no ito
English Translation: All the more, instead,
by the wind that tries to dry it,
how it falls in tangles:
wet and soaking in the rain,
the green willow's slender threads.
Meaning: Instead, it is the wind trying to dry them that has tangled them: the threads of the green willow, soaked in the rain.
Commentary: Spring Poems 53

Headnote: "Willows in the rain"
The topic is willows in the rain. The wind blows as if to dry the willow branches drooping wet with rain, but instead the thread-like branches have become tangled.
The poet finds an ironic humour in the wind's kindness only throwing the willow into disarray. The branches are likened to threads, and midaru, to tangle, a word associated with thread, depicts the scene.

First line, “nakanaka ni”: on the contrary, all the more.
Second line, “kaze no hosu ni zo”: because the wind tries to dry them; the emphatic zo forms a kakari-musubi with keru in the third line.
Third line, “midarekeru”: they have become tangled, with a break after the third line; midaru is a word associated with thread.
Fourth line, “ame ni nuretaru”: soaked in the rain.
Fifth line, “aoyagi no ito”: closing on a noun, likening the slender branches to threads; the upper and lower halves are inverted.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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