Sawa mo tokezu tsumedo katami ni todomarade me ni mo tamaranu egu no kusaguki

沢も解けず摘めど筐にとどまらで
目にもたまらぬゑぐの草茎

Roma-ji: Sawa mo tokezu tsumedo katami ni todomarade me ni mo tamaranu egu no kusaguki
English Translation: The marsh not yet thawed,
though I pick, they won't stay
in my wicker basket—
too small even to be seen,
these stalks of the egu grass.
Meaning: The marsh is not yet thawed; though I pick them, they will not stay in my basket—the stalks of egu grass, too small even to catch the eye.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 1434

Headnote: none
The marsh not yet thawed, the egu stalks he picks will not stay in his basket and are too small even to be seen, the poet says.
Egu is a waterside herb like water parsley, gathered in early spring. It depicts the difficulty of picking newly sprouted egu in a still-cold marsh. There are hard-to-construe parts, read here as above.

First line, “sawa mo tokezu”: the marsh not yet thawed; the line has an extra syllable.
Second line, “tsumedo katami ni”: though I pick them, in the basket; katami is a finely woven bamboo basket; the line has an extra syllable.
Third line, “todomarade”: de is a negative conjunction, "not staying."
Fourth line, “me ni mo tamaranu”: not even catching the eye.
Fifth line, “egu no kusaguki”: egu is the name of a waterside herb; ending on a noun.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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