Naniwagata ukifushi shigeki ashi no ha ni okitaru tsuyu no aware yo no naka

難波潟うきふししげき葦の葉に
置きたる露のあはれ世の中

Roma-ji: Naniwagata ukifushi shigeki ashi no ha ni okitaru tsuyu no aware yo no naka
English Translation: At Naniwa Bay
the reeds are thick with joints,
bitter knots of grief;
like the dew upon their leaves,
alas, this world of ours.
Meaning: Like the dew on the leaves of the reeds of Naniwa Bay, so thick with joints, so thick with bitter moments, alas for this fleeting world of ours.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 707

Headnote: illegible in the source as displayed
Like the dew on the jointed reeds of Naniwa Bay, the world, with its many bitter moments, is fleeting and sad. The joints of the reed carry the painful junctures of life, and the dew on the leaf the frailty of life.

Line 1 names Naniwa Bay in Settsu, a poetic place famous for reeds.
Line 2 means "thick with joints," uki meaning both "floating" and "bitter," and fushi both a reed's "joint" and a "juncture" of life.
Line 3 means "on the reed leaves."
Line 4 means "of the dew that settled," an emblem of transience.
Line 5 means "alas, the world," ending on a noun; like "alas, until when?" in 704 and 705, it closes on aware.
Author: Minamoto no Sanetomo
Source: Kinkaishu
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