Yoso ni mite orade wa sugiji ominaeshi na o mutsumajimi tsuyu ni nuru tomo

よそに見て折らでは過ぎじ女郎花
名をむつまじみ露に濡るとも

Roma-ji: Yoso ni mite orade wa sugiji ominaeshi na o mutsumajimi tsuyu ni nuru tomo
English Translation: Seeing it from afar,
I'll not pass by without picking—
O maidenflower,
for your name is dear to me,
though the dew may drench me through.
Meaning: I will not just look from afar and pass by without picking you, maidenflower—your name is so dear to me, even if I am soaked by the dew.
Commentary: Autumn Poems 217

Headnote: "Maidenflower"
The poet declares that he will not simply look at the maidenflower from afar and pass by without picking it; because its name feels so dear, he will pluck it even if he is soaked by dew. The poem carries a light playfulness, drawn to a flower whose name includes the word "woman."
Being charmed by the maidenflower's name has a precedent in the Kokin Wakashū poem by Archbishop Henjō, who says he picked it only for love of its name and asks it not to tell that he has fallen. The Ruijū and Teika texts differ in line 2. In the source text consulted, characters in line 2 are missing; they have been supplied from the Teika text's orade wa sugishi and read as orade wa sugiji.

Line 1 means "looking only from afar."
Line 2: ji is a negative volitional, "I will not pass without picking," and the poem pauses here.
Line 3, ominaeshi, one of the seven flowers of autumn, bears small yellow blossoms; because its name contains "woman," it is often likened to a woman in poetry.
Line 4 means "since the name feels dear," with mi on an adjective stem giving the reason.
Line 5: tomo is a concessive conditional, "even if I am soaked by dew," and through inversion shows the strength of his resolve. Following the two preceding poems, which asked after the "owner" of the fujibakama, this poem is drawn to a flower's "name," continuing the device of likening flowers to people. The maidenflower appears again in 241, in a meadow where a stag lives.
Author: Minamoto no Sanetomo
Source: Kinkaishu
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