Sora harete numa no mikasa o otosazu wa ayame mo fukanu satsuki naru beshi

空晴れて沼の水嵩を落とさずは
あやめも葺かぬ五月なるべし

Roma-ji: Sora harete numa no mikasa o otosazu wa ayame mo fukanu satsuki naru beshi
English Translation: If the sky clears not
and the marsh's swollen flood
does not sink again,
with no iris on the eaves
this Fifth Month must surely pass.
Meaning: Unless the sky clears and the swollen waters of the marsh go down, this will surely be a Fifth Month in which not even irises are laid upon the eaves.
Commentary: Summer Poems 201

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
With the early summer rains the water of the marsh has risen, and the irises cannot be cut. Unless the sky clears and the water goes down, the poet fears, this will be a Fifth Month in which no irises are laid on the eaves for the festival of the fifth day. The poem brings together the long rains of the season and the irises of the Tango festival.
This is the first poem as the subject shifts from the cuckoo to the irises of the festival of the fifth day, and irises continue in the poems that follow.

First line, “sora harete”: the rain stops and the sky clears.
Second line, “numa no mikasa o”: mikasa is the volume of water, showing that the marsh has swelled with the long rains.
Third line, “otosazu wa”: zu wa is a negative hypothesis, if it does not lower it.
Fourth line, “ayame mo fukanu”: recalls the custom of laying irises on the eaves at the festival of the fifth day, saying even this cannot be done.
Fifth line, “satsuki naru beshi”: beshi expresses confident conjecture, closing with it must surely be such a Fifth Month.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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