Ōkata no nobe no tsuyu ni wa shioruredo waga namida naki ominaeshi kana

おほかたの野辺の露にはしをるれど
我が涙なき女郎花かな

Roma-ji: Ōkata no nobe no tsuyu ni wa shioruredo waga namida naki ominaeshi kana
English Translation: Though it droops beneath
the dew that falls on all the moor,
as on everything,
none of my tears fall on it,
the flower of maidenhood.
Meaning: The maidenflower droops under the common dew of the moor, yet none of my tears have fallen upon it.
Commentary: Autumn Poems 279

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Heavy dew on autumn flowers"
This poem continues the topic of the preceding one. The maidenflower droops under the dew that settles everywhere on the moor, but it is not wet with tears like those the poet sheds in his sorrow. Seeing in the drooping flower an image of himself drooping with tears, he says the flower is not as drenched as he is.
The opening ōkata no and the contrast of dew and tears also link with 294, which asks what the common dew might become. Following the maidenflower bowed by dew in the preceding poem, this one compares the flower drooping with dew and the poet drooping with tears.

First line, “ōkata no”: common, ordinary, modifying nobe no tsuyu in the second line.
Second line, “nobe no tsuyu ni wa”: the dew on the moor, singled out by wa to contrast with the tears of the last lines.
Third line, “shioruredo”: shioru is for plants to wilt, or for one to droop wet with tears, and do is concessive.
Fourth line, “waga namida naki”: with none of my tears upon it, setting dew against tears.
Fifth line, “ominaeshi kana”: the same as the last line of the preceding poem, closing with kana.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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