Onajiku wa kaki o zo sashite hoshi mo su beki hamaguri yori wa na mo tayori ari

同じくは牡蠣をぞ刺して干しもすべき
蛤よりは名もたよりあり

Roma-ji: Onajiku wa kaki o zo sashite hoshi mo su beki hamaguri yori wa na mo tayori ari
English Translation: If it's all the same,
it is oysters, kaki, they
should skewer and dry—
better than the clams, for they
have a name that fits it well.
Meaning: If it is all the same, they ought to skewer and dry oysters—kaki—instead, for unlike the clams their name has a fitting link, like skewered dried persimmons.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 1375

Headnote: "Seeing something skewered being sold, I asked what it was and was told it was dried clams; hearing this I composed this"
Seeing skewered things for sale, Saigyō asked and was told they were dried clams. If they are going to skewer and dry something, it should be oysters, he says, for the name suits better than clams.
Skewered and dried things call to mind kushigaki, skewered dried persimmons; so kaki, the oyster, sharing the name kaki, persimmon, is fitter for skewering and drying. A light poem enjoying wordplay, it shifts the mood from the weighty poems on the sin of killing to humor.

First line, “onajiku wa”: if it is all the same.
Second line, “kaki o zo sashite”: skewering oysters; zo is answered by the attributive beki.
Third line, “hoshi mo su beki”: they ought to dry them; the line has an extra syllable and the poem breaks here.
Fourth line, “hamaguri yori wa”: rather than clams.
Fifth line, “na mo tayori ari”: the name too is fitting, linking to kaki in kushigaki, skewered persimmons.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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