Murasaki no iro naki koro no nobe nare ya katamatsuri nite kakenu aoi wa

紫の色なき頃の野辺なれや
かたまつりにてかけぬ葵は

Roma-ji: Murasaki no iro naki koro no nobe nare ya katamatsuri nite kakenu aoi wa
English Translation: Is it a moorland
in the season when it lacks
the purple's rich hue?
At this half-held festival,
the hollyhock goes unworn.
Meaning: Is this the moor of Murasaki in a season without its purple? At this half-held festival, the hollyhock is worn by no one.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 1220

Headnote: "It was a time when there was no Kamo Priestess, and there was no return procession from the festival, so I passed through Murasakino"
With no Kamo Priestess in office and so no return procession after the festival, Saigyō passed through Murasakino and composed this. Is this a moor bereft of purple, true to a season without color? At this half-festival, the hollyhock goes unworn.
Murasakino was where the Priestess's palace stood, and at the Kamo Festival the return procession, adorned with hollyhock, was a famed spectacle. With no priestess there was no procession, and the hollyhock lies unworn in the fields; the poet laments the lack of splendor worthy of Murasakino's name.

First line, “murasaki no”: of purple, echoing the place name Murasakino and the noble color of the Priestess.
Second line, “iro naki koro no”: in a season without that color, hinting at her absence.
Third line, “nobe nare ya”: ya questions, "is it such a moor?"; the poem breaks here.
Fourth line, “katamatsuri nite”: katamatsuri is an incomplete festival without the Priestess.
Fifth line, “kakenu aoi wa”: the hollyhock that no one wears, the inversion naming what is lamented.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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