Toribeno o kokoro no uchi ni wakeyukeba ibuki no tsuyu ni sode zo sobotsuru

鳥辺野を心のうちに分けゆけば
いぶきの露に袖ぞそほつる

Roma-ji: Toribeno o kokoro no uchi ni wakeyukeba ibuki no tsuyu ni sode zo sobotsuru
English Translation: Through Toribe's fields,
within the heart alone, I
make my way, and then
in the dew upon the ibuki
my sleeves become drenched through.
Meaning: When I make my way, within my heart, across the fields of Toribe, my sleeves are drenched with the dew upon the ibuki.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 757

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
Toribeno in the Eastern Hills of Kyoto was known as a cremation ground. Not visiting it in fact but making his way through it in his heart, the poet finds his sleeves wet with the dew on the ibuki. That merely thinking of the place where the dead are sent off brings tears is expressed as sleeves soaked with dew.

First line, “Toribeno o”: Toribeno, a cremation ground in the Eastern Hills, sung as an emblem of impermanence.
Second line, “kokoro no uchi ni”: within the heart, imagining rather than going there.
Third line, “wakeyukeba”: as I push my way through the grasses.
Fourth line, “ibuki no tsuyu ni”: ibuki is taken as the name of a plant, though this is uncertain; the dew hints at tears.
Fifth line, “sode zo sobotsuru”: zo is answered by sobotsuru; sobotsu is to be drenched through.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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