Asayū no ko o yashinai ni su to kikeba ku ni sugurete mo kanashikaruran

朝夕の子を養ひにすと聞けば
苦にすぐれても悲しかるらん

Roma-ji: Asayū no ko o yashinai ni su to kikeba ku ni sugurete mo kanashikaruran
English Translation: When I hear they make
the children they bear each morn
and eve into their food,
surely that must be a grief
surpassing every other pain.
Meaning: When I hear that they make their own children, born morning and evening, their food, surely that must be sadder than any other suffering.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 898

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "When composing poems on the six realms: Hungry ghosts"
This is the second of the six-realm poems, on the realm of hungry ghosts, a world of hunger and thirst. The sutras tell of hungry ghosts who bear children morning and evening and eat them to stave off hunger. To eat one's own children so must be sadder than any other suffering, the poet says.

First line, “asayū no”: morning and evening.
Second line, “ko o yashinai ni”: making their children their nourishment, their food.
Third line, “su to kikeba”: when I hear they do so.
Fourth line, “ku ni sugurete mo”: surpassing other sufferings.
Fifth line, “kanashikaruran”: ran is conjecture about the present; it must be sad.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
Prev Poem: Tsumibito no shinuru yo mo naku moyuru hi no takigi naruran koto zo kanashiki
Next Poem: Kagurauta ni kusa torikau wa itakeredo nao sono koma ni naru koto wa ushi