Saranu koto mo atokata naki o wakite nado tsuyu o ada ni mo ii mo okiken

さらぬことも跡形なきをわきてなど
露をあだにも言ひも置きけん

Roma-ji: Saranu koto mo atokata naki o wakite nado tsuyu o ada ni mo ii mo okiken
English Translation: Since all other things
likewise vanish without a trace,
why, above the rest,
was the dew alone singled out
and spoken of as fleeting?
Meaning: Since things other than dew also vanish without a trace, why was dew alone singled out and called fleeting?
Commentary: One Hundred Poems 1516

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Ten Poems on Impermanence"
The fourth of the ten poems on impermanence. Since things other than dew also vanish without a trace, why did the people of old single out the dew alone as fleeting?
Dew had long been the emblem of fleeting things, but the poem, by questioning the old saying, expresses the view that everything in this world vanishes like dew. As the preceding poem dissolved the line between dream and waking, this one dissolves the line between dew and all else.

First line, “saranu koto mo”: saranu means not so, "things other than dew"; the line has an extra syllable.
Second line, “atokata naki o”: o is concessive, "though they vanish without trace."
Third line, “wakite nado”: wakite means especially, and nado why.
Fourth line, “tsuyu o ada ni mo”: ada means fleeting, fragile.
Fifth line, “ii mo okiken”: ken is conjecture about the past, "why did they say so?"; oku, to set down, is associated with dew.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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