Niwa no iwa ni metatsuru hito mo nakaramashi kado aru sama ni tateshi okazu wa

庭の岩に目立つる人もなからまし
かどあるさまに立てし置かずは

Roma-ji: Niwa no iwa ni metatsuru hito mo nakaramashi kado aru sama ni tateshi okazu wa
English Translation: No one would have turned
to look at the garden stones
with an eye to see,
had he not set them standing
in a form of such fine grace.
Meaning: No one would have paid any notice to the stones in the garden, had Kanaoka not set them up in such a graceful form.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 1424

Headnote: "Seeing the stones set up by Kanaoka at Daikakuji"
Seeing the stones at Daikakuji said to have been set by Kose no Kanaoka, Saigyō composed this. No one would notice the garden stones, had he not set them in such a graceful form.
Kose no Kanaoka was a famous painter of the Heian period, said also to have arranged the stones of Daikakuji's garden. In stones that still catch the eye in the ruined garden, Saigyō feels the power of a master's art. Kado joins the stones' "angles" with "grace" or "wit."

First line, “niwa no iwa ni”: on the garden stones of Daikakuji; the line has an extra syllable.
Second line, “metatsuru hito mo”: anyone who would notice.
Third line, “nakaramashi”: mashi is counterfactual, "there would have been none"; the poem breaks here.
Fourth line, “kado aru sama ni”: kado joins the stones' "angles" with "grace."
Fifth line, “tateshi okazu wa”: zu wa is a negative supposition, "had he not set them up," the inversion giving the supposition.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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