Ato taete asaji ga sue ni narinikeri tanomeshi yado no niwa no shiratsuyu - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

跡絶えて浅茅が末になりにけり
頼めし宿の庭の白露

Roma-ji: Ato taete asaji ga sue ni narinikeri tanomeshi yado no niwa no shiratsuyu
English Translation: The tracks have vanished,
and all has come down to this,
the tips of the reeds;
in the house you made me trust,
white dew lies across the garden.
Meaning: With no more footprints, the garden has become nothing but the tips of cogon grass; in this house where you made me trust you would come, white dew lies upon the garden.
Commentary: Book Fourteen Love Poems IV 1286

Headnote: "On the topic 'Long-Lasting Love,' at the poetry contest held at the house of Lord Tsunefusa."
This is the second poem of the sequence on love unvisited in a neglected dwelling. The footprints have vanished and all is now the tips of cogon grass, the speaker says; white dew lies in the garden of the house where you promised to come. According to the headnote, it was composed on the topic "Long-Lasting Love" at a poetry contest held at the house of Lord Tsunefusa.
The author, "Sanuki of Nijō-in," was a daughter of Minamoto no Yorimasa and a lady-in-waiting to Emperor Nijō. She later also served Gishūmon'in Ninshi, empress of Emperor Go-Toba. "Lord Tsunefusa" in the headnote is Fujiwara no Tsunefusa.

The first line, "ato taete," means "with footprints gone." It shows that visits have long ceased.
In the second line, "asaji ga sue ni," "sue" means the tips of the cogon grass and also suggests the end of the months. After the mugwort of the preceding poem, it names another grass of a neglected garden.
In the third line, "narinikeri," "keri" marks realization: "it has come to this." The poem breaks after this line.
The fourth line, "tanomeshi yado no," means "of the house you made me trust." It refers to her own home, where the lover who promised should have come.
The last line, "niwa no shiratsuyu," ends on a noun. Beginning with the same "niwa no" as "niwa no yomogiu," the last line of the preceding poem, it moves the scene of the neglected garden from mugwort to white dew. The white dew suggests tears and shows the long waiting fitting for the topic of long-lasting love.
Author: Nijoin no Sanuki
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
Prev Poem: Naraikoshi ta ga itsuwari mo mada shirade matsu to seshi ma no niwa no yomogiu
Next Poem: Konu hito o omoitaetaru niwa no omo no yomogi ga sue zo matsu ni masareru