Tani no io ni tama no sudare o kakemashi ya sugaru taruhi no noki o tojizu wa

谷の庵に玉の簾をかけましや
すがるたるひの軒を閉ぢずは

Roma-ji: Tani no io ni tama no sudare o kakemashi ya sugaru taruhi no noki o tojizu wa
English Translation: In my valley hut,
would there ever hang a blind
of shining jewels,
if the icicles hanging down
did not close my eaves in so?
Meaning: Would a blind of jewels ever hang in my valley hut, were it not for the icicles dangling down to close the eaves?
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 1366

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "When snow had fallen"
Would a jeweled blind ever hang in his valley hut, the poet asks, were it not for the icicles hanging to close the eaves?
The icicles hanging from the eaves are likened to a blind adorned with jewels. A jeweled blind, unsuited to a humble hut, is hung there by winter's nature, singing of the unexpected beauty of a recluse's dwelling.

First line, “tani no io ni”: in the valley hut; the line has an extra syllable.
Second line, “tama no sudare o”: a blind adorned with jewels.
Third line, “kakemashi ya”: mashi is counterfactual and ya rhetorical, "would it have hung? No"; the poem breaks here.
Fourth line, “sugaru taruhi no”: taruhi are icicles; sugaru is taken as "hanging."
Fifth line, “noki o tojizu wa”: zu wa is a negative supposition, "had they not closed the eaves," the inversion giving the supposition.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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