Isogi okite niwa no kogusa no tsuyu fuman yasashiki kazu ni hito ya omou to

急ぎ起きて庭の小草の露踏まん
やさしき数に人や思ふと

Roma-ji: Isogi okite niwa no kogusa no tsuyu fuman yasashiki kazu ni hito ya omou to
English Translation: I will rise in haste
and tread the dew that's settled
on the garden's grass,
hoping they might count me too
among those of gentle taste.
Meaning: I will hurry out of bed and walk through the dew on the little grasses of the garden, wondering whether people might count me among those of refined feeling.
Commentary: Autumn Poems 258

Headnote: "Tanabata"
This poem, on the topic of Tanabata, is the first of a sequence on the festival. On the morning of Tanabata, the poet will hurry up and tread the dew on the little grasses of the garden, wondering if people will then count him among the refined who take the festival to heart. His fondness for the festival is expressed lightly, with an eye to how others see him.
Tanabata poems usually take up the meeting of the two stars, but this one looks at the poet's own conduct on earth. It serves as an introduction to the sequence, whose viewpoint moves in the following poems to the hearts of the stars in the sky.

First line, “isogi okite”: a hypermetric line of six syllables, showing him hurrying up early in the morning.
Second line, “niwa no kogusa no”: kogusa is small grass, leading on to the dew settled on its blades.
Third line, “tsuyu fuman”: n is the volitional mu, I will tread the dew; the poem breaks after the third line.
Fourth line, “yasashiki kazu ni”: yasashiki means elegant and refined, among the number of people of taste.
Fifth line, “hito ya omou to”: ya marks a question, wondering whether people will think so, giving in inverted order the reason for the third line's resolve.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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