Furuki imo ga sono ni uetaru karanazuna tare nazusae to ōshitatsuran

古き妹が園に植ゑたる唐なづな
誰なづさへと生ほし立つらん

Roma-ji: Furuki imo ga sono ni uetaru karanazuna tare nazusae to ōshitatsuran
English Translation: My love of old times—
in her garden she has planted
this foreign shepherd's-purse;
for whom to grow fond of it
does she raise it with such care?
Meaning: The foreign shepherd's-purse my love of old has planted in her garden—for whom to grow fond of is she raising it?
Commentary: One Hundred Poems 1493

Headnote: "Ten Poems on Love"
The first of the ten poems on love. Seeing the foreign shepherd's-purse that his former love has planted and tends in her garden, he wonders for whom she is raising it to grow fond of.
A quiet jealousy and lingering attachment can be felt: the woman now estranged may be tending the flowers for someone else. The sounds of nazuna and nazusae are layered, expressing the longing through the echo of the words.

First line, “furuki imo ga”: imo is a man's word for his beloved, "my love of old"; the line has an extra syllable.
Second line, “sono ni uetaru”: planted in her garden.
Third line, “karanazuna”: taken as the name of a kind of shepherd's-purse, echoing nazusae in the fourth line.
Fourth line, “tare nazusae to”: nazusae is the imperative of nazusau, to grow familiar, "for whom to be fond of."
Fifth line, “ōshitatsuran”: ran is conjecture about the present, "is she raising it?"
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
Prev Poem: Kuyashiku mo yuki no miyama e wakeirade fumoto ni nomi mo toshi o tsumikeru
Next Poem: Kurenai no yoso naru iro wa shirareneba fude ni koso mazu somehajimetsure