Ato taete asaji shigereru niwa no omo ni tare wakeirite sumire tsumiten

跡絶えて浅茅茂れる庭の面に
誰分け入りて菫摘みてん

Roma-ji: Ato taete asaji shigereru niwa no omo ni tare wakeirite sumire tsumiten
English Translation: Where no footsteps come,
and the tall cogon grass grows thick
on the garden ground,
who would make their way in there
to pick violets, I wonder?
Meaning: In the garden where no one comes and the low reeds grow thick, who would push their way in to pick violets?
Commentary: Spring Poems 159

Headnote: "Violets"
This is the first of two poems on violets. In a garden abandoned by visitors and overgrown with low reeds, the poet wonders who would push their way in to pick violets.
Imagining violets blooming quietly in a neglected garden and someone coming to pick them, the poem brings out the presence of a delicate flower amid the loneliness of a deserted garden.

First line, “ato taete”: with footprints gone, meaning no one visits.
Second line, “asaji shigereru”: thick with low reeds, a garden gone wild.
Third line, “niwa no omo ni”: on the garden's surface, a line with an extra syllable.
Fourth line, “tare wakeirite”: who would push their way in.
Fifth line, “sumire tsumiten”: to pick violets, closing with the emphatic tsu and conjectural n.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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