Aki fukaki nobe no kusaba ni kurabebaya mono omou koro no sode no shiratsuyu

秋深き野辺の草葉に比べばや
物思ふ頃の袖の白露

Roma-ji: Aki fukaki nobe no kusaba ni kurabebaya mono omou koro no sode no shiratsuyu
English Translation: With the grassy blades
in the fields of deepening autumn
I would compare it,
in these days I brood on love,
the white dew upon my sleeves.
Meaning: I would like to compare the dew on the grasses of the fields in deep autumn with the white dew on my sleeves in these days of brooding over love.
Commentary: Love Poems 707

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Love"
In the fields of deep autumn, dew lies thick on every blade of grass. The poet would like to compare that dew with the white dew of tears on his own sleeves in these days of brooding over love, to see which is greater. The abundance of dew in the autumn fields is invoked to show how many are his tears.
Taking up the dew on the sleeves of the preceding poem, this one too sings of the white dew on the sleeves, comparing it with the dew on the grasses of the fields.

First line, “aki fukaki”: of deep autumn.
Second line, “nobe no kusaba ni”: with the grasses of the fields, the dew that lies on them.
Third line, “kurabebaya”: baya expresses one's own wish: I would like to compare. The poem breaks after the third line.
Fourth line, “mono omou koro no”: of these days of brooding; the line has eight syllables, one too many.
Fifth line, “sode no shiratsuyu”: the white dew on my sleeves, tears likened to shining dew; ending on a noun and returning in inversion to the upper verse.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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