Naozari ni yakisuteshi no no sawarabi wa oru hito nakute hodoro to ya naru

なほざりに焼き捨てし野の早蕨は
折る人なくてほどろとやなる

Roma-ji: Naozari ni yakisuteshi no no sawarabi wa oru hito nakute hodoro to ya naru
English Translation: Carelessly the fields
were burned and then left alone,
and the young bracken,
with no one there to pick it,
will it grow to straggly fronds?
Meaning: On the field that was carelessly burned and left, will the young bracken grow into straggling fronds, with no one to pick it?
Commentary: Spring Poems 161

Headnote: "Young bracken"
The topic is young bracken. The poet wonders whether the young bracken sprouting on a field carelessly burned off in early spring will, with no one to pick it, grow into overgrown, straggling fronds.
The poem captures both the vitality of bracken sprouting after the burning and the loneliness of its passing unnoticed. Field burning also appears in 33 and 85; here the eye turns to what sprouts from the burned field.

First line, “naozari ni”: carelessly, offhandedly.
Second line, “yakisuteshi no no”: of the field burned and left as it was, the aftermath of field burning.
Third line, “sawarabi wa”: the bracken just sprouting.
Fourth line, “oru hito nakute”: with no one to pick it.
Fifth line, “hodoro to ya naru”: the interrogative ya forms a kakari-musubi with the attributive naru, closing with the question of whether it will grow straggly.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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