Hana sakanu kuchiki no soma no somabito no ikanaru kure ni omoiizuran - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

花咲かぬ朽木の杣の杣人の
いかなるくれに思ひ出づらん

Roma-ji: Hana sakanu kuchiki no soma no somabito no ikanaru kure ni omoiizuran
English Translation: A rotting grove
where no flowers ever bloom,
and its woodsman—
at what dusk, for what timber,
could you have remembered me?
Meaning: I am like a woodsman of a grove of rotting trees where no flowers bloom; at what dusk, and for what timber, did you remember me?
Commentary: Book Fifteen Love Poems V 1398

Headnote: "Sent with timber to a woman I had long been parted from, when she asked for some."
This is the fourth poem of the sequence on a severed bond. When a woman long parted from him asked for timber, he sent it with this poem, asking at what dusk she remembered a woodsman of a rotting grove where no flowers bloom. According to the headnote, the woman, long estranged, asked for timber, and he attached this poem when sending it.
The author, "Fujiwara no Nakafumi," was a poet of the mid-Heian period who served as Assistant Governor of Kōzuke and other posts. He was one of the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.
The headnote in the text reads "tazunetarikeru," with a note adding "ni" after "ru." Following the note, it is read "tazunetarikeru ni."

The first line, "hana sakanu," means "where no flowers bloom," a figure for the author's own unflourishing state.
The second line, "kuchiki no soma no," means "of a timber grove of rotting trees." "Soma" is a mountain where timber is cut.
The third line, "somabito no," is a woodsman who fells trees in such a grove, a figure for the author himself. The first three lines repeat "soma" to paint a desolate mountain scene.
In the fourth line, "ikanaru kure ni," "kure" is a pivot word joining "kure" (timber) the woman asked for and "kure" (dusk). Together with grove, rotting trees, and woodsman, it is bound by words associated with timber.
The last line, "omoiizuran," means "did you remember?" Where the preceding poem mocked one who forgets, this one, while belittling himself, asks about a woman who has suddenly remembered.
Author: Fujiwara no Nakafumi
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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