Iwa tsutai orade tsutsuji o te ni zo toru sagashiki yama no toridokoro ni wa

岩伝ひ折らで躑躅を手にぞ取る
嶮しき山の取りどころには

Roma-ji: Iwa tsutai orade tsutsuji o te ni zo toru sagashiki yama no toridokoro ni wa
English Translation: Climbing rock to rock,
not to pluck, I take in hand
the azalea bloom,
as a handhold on the slope
of the steep and rugged hill.
Meaning: Picking my way from rock to rock, I take hold of the azaleas, not to pluck them, but as handholds on the steep mountain.
Commentary: Spring Poems 163

Headnote: "Azaleas on a mountain path"
The topic is azaleas on a mountain path. Climbing a steep path from rock to rock, the poet grasps the azaleas by the way not to pluck them as flowers, but as handholds to steady himself.
There is humour in the unexpected pairing of seizing azaleas not out of love for the flowers but as footholds on the trail. It is a poem full of the felt experience of one who walks steep mountains.

First line, “iwa tsutai”: making my way from rock to rock.
Second line, “orade tsutsuji o”: the azaleas, without plucking them.
Third line, “te ni zo toru”: the emphatic zo forms a kakari-musubi with the attributive toru, with a break after the third line.
Fourth line, “sagashiki yama no”: of the steep mountain.
Fifth line, “toridokoro ni wa”: as a handhold, giving in inverted order the reason for grasping the azaleas.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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