Shinosusuki uwaba ni sugaku sasagani no ika sama ni seba hito nabikinamu - Kinyo Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

篠薄上葉にすがくささがにの
いかさまにせば人なびきなむ

Roma-ji: Shinosusuki uwaba ni sugaku sasagani no ika sama ni seba hito nabikinamu
English Translation: On the slender grass,
its upper leaves where weaves
the little spider,
what must I do, and how,
to make her bend toward me
Meaning: Like the spider spinning its web on the upper leaves of the slender pampas grass, how, I wonder, can I make her heart bend toward me?
Commentary: Book Seven Love Poems I 351

Taking as its preface a spider spinning its web on the upper leaves of slender pampas grass, the poem frets over how the poet might make the other's heart bend toward him. Through the grass that sways in the wind and the spider's thread hanging precariously upon it, it conveys a love that will not go as he wishes.
Some manuscripts name Ōe no Kinsuke as the author and give the headnote 'Sent to a woman.'
Like 'thread spun in spider fashion' in poem 386 and 'sasagani no' in poem 404 in this book, it sings of the spider.

First line, 'shinosusuki', means slender pampas grass, a plant that bends in the wind. It is tied to nabiku, to bend, in the final line.
Second line, 'uwaba ni sugaku', means spinning a web on the upper leaves. Like the fourth line 'kumode ni sugaku' of poem 386 in this book, it uses sugaku.
Third line, 'sasagani no', means of the spider, and from i, the spider's thread, it leads into 'ika sama ni' in the fourth line. The first three lines form a preface. The third line of poem 404 in this book is also 'sasagani no'.
Fourth line, 'ika sama ni seba', means if I were to do what, the irrealis with ba forming a supposition.
Final line, 'hito nabikinamu', means will she bend toward me, using the intensive nu and the conjectural mu.
Source: Kinyo Wakashu
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