Sumire saku Yokono no tsubana sakinureba omoiomoi ni hito kayou nari

菫咲く横野のつばな咲きぬれば
思ひ思ひに人通ふなり

Roma-ji: Sumire saku Yokono no tsubana sakinureba omoiomoi ni hito kayou nari
English Translation: On Yokono where
violets bloom, the cogon grass
has come into flower,
and people come and go now,
each as their fancy takes them.
Meaning: Now that the cogon grass has flowered on Yokono where the violets bloom, people come and go, each as they please.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 1015

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
Since the cogon grass has flowered on Yokono where violets bloom, people come to pick it, each as they please, the poet says. Yokono is a famed poetic plain in Settsu, and tsubana, the flower spikes of cogon grass, were picked in spring to eat. He paints a peaceful scene of people gathering on the spring meadow.

First line, “sumire saku”: where violets bloom.
Second line, “Yokono no tsubana”: Yokono is a famed plain in Settsu; tsubana are the flower spikes of cogon grass.
Third line, “sakinureba”: since they have flowered.
Fourth line, “omoiomoi ni”: each as they please.
Fifth line, “hito kayou nari”: nari marks inference; people seem to come and go.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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