Ikade kaku ne o oshimuramu ayamegusa uki ni wa koe mo tatetsu beki yo o - Shika Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

いかでかくねを惜しむらむ菖蒲草
うきには声も立てつべき世を

Roma-ji: Ikade kaku ne o oshimuramu ayamegusa uki ni wa koe mo tatetsu beki yo o
English Translation: Why should you so hold
back the sound of your roots' cry,
O sweet flag, when this
is a world of mire and grief
where one might well cry aloud
Meaning: Why, sweet flag, do you hold back your voice like this, when in this sorrowful world, rooted in the mire, one might well cry out aloud?
Commentary: Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems I 330

Drawing on the sweet flag of the Boys' Festival, the poet asks why it holds back its voice when in this sorrowful world one might well cry aloud. Playing "ne" as both the plant's root and the sound of weeping, and "uki" as both mire and sorrow, she entrusts a held-back grief to the sweet flag.
Poems 311 and 336 of this book also sing of sweet flag.

The first line, "ikade kaku" (why like this), poses a question.
The second line, "ne o oshimuramu," is a pivot word joining the sweet flag's "ne" (root) and "ne" (the sound of weeping), with the conjectural "ramu": do you hold back your voice? A break falls after the second line.
The third line, "ayamegusa," names the sweet flag thatched into the eaves at the Tango festival, in the form of an address.
The fourth line, "uki ni wa koe mo," is a pivot word joining "uki" (the mire where sweet flag grows) and "uki" (sorrowful): in times of sorrow.
The final line, "tatetsu beki yo o," combines the intensive "tsu," the "beshi" of propriety, and the concessive "o": though it is a world where one might cry aloud.
Author: Suo no Naishi
Source: Shika Wakashu
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