Sasagani no ito ni tsuranuku tsuyu no tama o kakete kazareru yo ni koso arikere

ささがにの糸に貫く露の玉を
懸けて飾れる世にこそありけれ

Roma-ji: Sasagani no ito ni tsuranuku tsuyu no tama o kakete kazareru yo ni koso arikere
English Translation: On a spider's thread
the dewdrops strung like jewels
through and through, are hung
as adornments—so it is,
this world we live in, after all.
Meaning: This world is like dewdrops strung like jewels on a spider's thread and hung up as adornments.
Commentary: One Hundred Poems 1514

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Ten Poems on Impermanence"
The second of the ten poems on impermanence. This world is like dewdrops strung on a spider's thread and hung up as ornaments—fragile and fleeting.
Both spider's thread and dew are emblems of things that vanish at once, and the poem layers them to figure the impermanence of the world, with the thought that what looks most beautifully adorned is the most fragile. The final poem, 1552, also begins with sasagani no, returning to this figure of impermanence at the close of the hundred.

First line, “sasagani no”: meaning spider, a pillow word for thread; it is the same first line as 1552 at the end of the book.
Second line, “ito ni tsuranuku”: threaded on the spider's silk.
Third line, “tsuyu no tama o”: dew like jewels; the line has an extra syllable.
Fourth line, “kakete kazareru”: hung up as ornaments.
Fifth line, “yo ni koso arikere”: koso concludes with the perfective kere, strengthening "such a world it is."
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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