Hikikaete nobe no keshiki wa mieshikado mukashi o kouru matsu wa nakariki - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

ひきかへて野辺のけしきは見えしかど
昔を恋ふる松はなかりき

Roma-ji: Hikikaete nobe no keshiki wa mieshikado mukashi o kouru matsu wa nakariki
English Translation: Pulled and all transformed,
the meadow's look appeared to me
wholly changed, and yet
there was no pine to be found
that longed for the days of old.
Meaning: As I pulled the young pines, the look of the meadow seemed wholly changed from before, yet there was no pine that yearned for the days of old.
Commentary: Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Poems I 1439

Headnote: "Reply."
This is the fourth poem of the sequence on the coming of spring, Retired Emperor En'yū's reply to Minamoto no Masanobu's poem in the preceding poem. The meadow looked wholly changed from the days of his reign, he says, yet there was no pine longing for the past, answering that he has no heart that yearns for former days.
The author, "the Poem of Retired Emperor En'yū," is Emperor En'yū. A son of Emperor Murakami, he succeeded to the throne on the abdication of his elder brother, Emperor Reizei, and later yielded it to Emperor Kazan.

The first line, "hikikaete," plays on "hikikaete," meaning "completely changed," and "hiku," the pulling of young pines on the Day of the Rat. It is an opening well suited to the outing.
The second line, "nobe no keshiki wa," refers to the view of the meadow at Funaoka, visited after his abdication. It takes up "kinō no nobe" of the preceding poem.
The third line, "mieshikado," adds the concessive "do" to "shika," the perfective form of the past auxiliary "ki," turning toward the last two lines.
The fourth line, "mukashi o kouru," takes up "mukashi no hito o omou" of the preceding poem. He answers Masanobu's question with the same word, "mukashi."
In the last line, "matsu wa nakariki," the pine is the young pine pulled on the Day of the Rat. Stating with the past "ki" that there was no pine that longed for the past, he retorts that he too has no heart that yearns for former days.
Author: Retired Emperor En'yu
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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