Kusa no ha ni aranu tamoto mo mono omoeba sode ni tsuyu oku aki no yūgure

草の葉にあらぬ袂も物思へば
袖に露置く秋の夕暮

Roma-ji: Kusa no ha ni aranu tamoto mo mono omoeba sode ni tsuyu oku aki no yūgure
English Translation: Though they're not the leaves
of the grasses, still my sleeves,
when I'm lost in thought,
gather dew upon them in
the evening dusk of autumn.
Meaning: Though my sleeves are not leaves of grass, when I am lost in longing, dew settles on them in the autumn dusk.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 1299

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "One hundred and ten love poems"
Though his sleeves are not leaves of grass, when he broods, dew settles on them in the autumn dusk, the poet says.
Dew properly settles on grass, but here the dew of tears settles on the sleeves of one who broods. Autumn dusk is the hour when brooding deepens, and the tears shed in its loneliness are laid over dew.

First line, “kusa no ha ni”: as grass leaves.
Second line, “aranu tamoto mo”: even sleeves that are not such.
Third line, “mono omoeba”: when I brood.
Fourth line, “sode ni tsuyu oku”: dew settles on my sleeves, figuring tears.
Fifth line, “aki no yūgure”: ending on a noun, the hour when brooding deepens lingers.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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