Ayamegusa yodono ni ouru mono nareba ne nagara hito wa hiku ni ya aruramu - Kinyo Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

あやめ草淀野に生ふるものなれば
ねながら人は引くにやあるらむ

Roma-ji: Ayamegusa yodono ni ouru mono nareba ne nagara hito wa hiku ni ya aruramu
English Translation: Since the sweet flag grows
in the meadows of Yodo,
where still waters lie,
perhaps with roots, as if asleep,
people pull it from the ground
Meaning: Since the sweet flag grows in the meadows of Yodo, where waters lie still, perhaps people pull it roots and all, as if half asleep.
Commentary: Book Two Summer Poems 132

Since the sweet flag grows in the meadows of Yodo, perhaps people pull it roots and all, as if asleep. Linking the place name Yodo with yodomu, to stagnate, and so with idleness, the poem plays wittily on ne as both root and sleep.
From poem 127 through poem 134 in this book come poems on the sweet flag, which was hung from the eaves and whose roots were compared for length at the Tango festival on the fifth day of the Fifth Month.
The author, Kinzane, is Fujiwara no Kinzane. A son of Fujiwara no Sanesue, he rose to Provisional Major Counselor and also served as Master of the Crown Prince's Household. He was an active poet in the circle of Emperor Horikawa.

First line, 'ayamegusa', opens by naming the theme.
Second line, 'yodono ni ouru', takes Yodono, the meadows of Yodo in Yamashiro, known as marshland where sweet flag grew; yodo evokes stagnant water.
Third line, 'mono nareba', means since it is a plant that grows there, giving the reason for the lower half.
Fourth line, 'ne nagara hito wa', is a pivot word in which ne means both the root of the sweet flag and sleep: roots and all, and while asleep.
Final line, 'hiku ni ya aruramu', joins the particle ya with the conjectural ramu: do they pull it so, I wonder.
Author: Fujiwara no Kinzane
Source: Kinyo Wakashu
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