Yo o sutete irinishi michi no kotonoha zo aware mo fukaki iro mo miekeru

世を捨てて入りにし道の言の葉ぞ
あはれも深き色も見えける

Roma-ji: Yo o sutete irinishi michi no kotonoha zo aware mo fukaki iro mo miekeru
English Translation: The words of one who
cast the world away to enter
on the Buddha's path—
in them, deep is the sorrow,
and their color can be seen.
Meaning: It is precisely in the words of one who has cast off the world to enter the Buddhist path that deep feeling, and color too, can be seen.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 1240

Headnote: "Reply"
This is Fujiwara no Shunzei's reply to Saigyō's poem. Precisely because they are the words of one who forsook the world to enter the Buddhist path, he answers, deep feeling and color can be seen in them.
To Saigyō's humble "not flowers," Shunzei replies that in the poems of a recluse lie deep feeling and beauty. He esteemed Saigyō's poetry highly, and many of Saigyō's poems were taken into the Senzaishū. This reply is significant as a judgment that saw the essence of Saigyō's poetry in the deep feeling of one who has renounced the world.

First line, “yo o sutete”: casting off the world.
Second line, “irinishi michi no”: of the path one has entered; nishi joins perfective and past.
Third line, “kotonoha zo”: zo is emphatic, answered by the attributive keru; it takes up kotonoha in Saigyō's poem.
Fourth line, “aware mo fukaki”: deep in feeling.
Fifth line, “iro mo miekeru”: color can be seen too, answering "iro mo ya aru" in Saigyō's poem.
Author: Fujiwara no Shunzei
Source: Sankashu
Prev Poem: Hana naranu kotonoha naredo onozukara iro mo ya aru to kimi hirowanan
Next Poem: Omoiamari iiideshi koso ikemizu no fukaki kokoro no hodo wa shirarame