Kienu meru moto no shizuku o omou ni mo tare ka wa sue no tsuyu no mi naranu

消えぬめるもとの雫を思ふにも
誰かは末の露の身ならぬ

Roma-ji: Kienu meru moto no shizuku o omou ni mo tare ka wa sue no tsuyu no mi naranu
English Translation: When I think upon
the drop at the root that seems
to have faded now,
who among us is not
like dew upon the leaf tips?
Meaning: When I think of the drop at the root that seems to have vanished, who among us is not like the dew on the leaf tips, as fleeting?
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 818

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "After the death of the Second Rank Lady of the Retired Emperor, when people composed ten poems"
This is the second of the ten. When I think of the drop at the root that seems to have vanished, who is not as fleeting as the dew on the leaf tips? the poet asks. The drop at the root stands for the lady who died first, the dew on the leaf tips for those left behind, and all alike must vanish in time.
The poem draws on Henjō's 'Sue no tsuyu / moto no shizuku ya / yo no naka no / okure sakidatsu / tameshi naruran.'

First line, “kienu meru”: meru is the attributive of meri; it seems to have vanished.
Second line, “moto no shizuku o”: the drop that falls at the root, a figure for the one who died first.
Third line, “omou ni mo”: as I think on it.
Fourth line, “tare ka wa sue no”: ka wa is a rhetorical binding particle answered by nu in the fifth line; sue, the leaf tip, is set against moto, the root.
Fifth line, “tsuyu no mi naranu”: who is not a body of dew? closing rhetorically.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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