Kuchite tada shioreba yoshi ya waga sode mo hagi no shizue no tsuyu ni yosoete

朽ちてただしをればよしや我が袖も
萩の下枝の露によそへて

Roma-ji: Kuchite tada shioreba yoshi ya waga sode mo hagi no shizue no tsuyu ni yosoete
English Translation: Let them rot away,
let them wilt, it matters not,
these my sleeves as well,
likening them to the dew
on the clover's lower boughs.
Meaning: If my sleeves simply rot away and wilt, so be it; I will liken them to the lower branches of the bush clover drooping with dew.
Commentary: Love Poems 601

Headnote: "Love expressed through autumn flowers"
The topic is love expressed through autumn flowers. Even if his sleeves, soaked endlessly in tears, rot and wilt, the poet says, so be it; he can think of them as drooping like the lower branches of bush clover wet with dew. The tears of love are likened to the dew on the clover, combining a wish to pass them off to others as autumn dew with a despairing lament.

First line, “kuchite tada”: rotting away, simply; the sleeves worn out by endless tears.
Second line, “shioreba yoshi ya”: shioru is to wilt: if they wilt, so be it; yoshi ya expresses reckless resignation.
Third line, “waga sode mo”: my sleeves too, the subject of the first two lines.
Fourth line, “hagi no shizue no”: shizue are the lower branches, where dew gathers most; answering the autumn flowers of the topic.
Fifth line, “tsuyu ni yosoete”: yosou is to liken: likening my tears to the dew, the poem trailing off.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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