[5] More literally: "The water-grasses having appeared to grow dark, the fireflies begin to fly." The phrase kururu to miété reminds one of the second stanza in that most remarkable of modern fairy-ballads, Mr. Yeats' "Folk of the Air":—
"And he saw how the weeds grew dark
At the coming of night-tide;
And he dreamed of the long dim hair
Of Bridget his bride."
[6] Oku-no-ma really means the back room. But the best rooms in a Japanese house are always in the rear, and so arranged as to overlook the garden. The composer of the verse is supposed to be a guest at some banquet, during which fireflies are set free in the garden that the visitors may enjoy the spectacle.
[7] That is to say, makes the fingers appear diaphanous, as if held before a bright candle-flame. This suggestion of rosy semi-transparency implies a female speaker.
[8] The word sabishi usually signifies lonesome or melancholy; but the sense of it here is "weird." This verse suggests the popular fancy that the soul of a person, living or dead, may assume the form of a firefly.
[9] The speaker is supposed to be a woman. Somebody has been making love to her in the dark; and she half doubts the sincerity of the professed affection.
[10] From the Fugetsu-Sh'u. The speaker is a woman: by the simile of the silent-glowing firefly she suggests her own secret love.
[11] From the Kokon Wakashū Enkyō. The speaker is supposed to be a woman.
[12] Or, "he stoops low." The word bikui really means low of stature.
[13] A kind of arrowroot.