Yae nagara iro mo kawaranu yamabuki no nado kokonoe ni sakazu narinishi - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

八重ながら色も変はらぬ山吹の
などここのへに咲かずなりにし

Roma-ji: Yae nagara iro mo kawaranu yamabuki no nado kokonoe ni sakazu narinishi
English Translation: Eightfold as ever,
the kerria's color, too,
has not changed at all—
why is it that in the ninefold
palace it blooms no more?
Meaning: The kerria is eightfold as ever, its color unchanged—why is it that it no longer blooms in the ninefold palace?
Commentary: Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Poems I 1480

Headnote: "When, after Retired Emperor En'yū had abdicated, he tossed kerria blossoms over the screen at the place where Sanekata Ason was talking with Uma no Myōbu."
This is the eighth poem of the sequence on the things of late spring. The poet asks the abdicated Retired Emperor En'yū why the kerria, eightfold and unchanged in color, no longer blooms in the palace. According to the headnote, it was composed when, after his abdication, the retired emperor tossed kerria blossoms over a screen where the poet was talking with Uma no Myōbu.
The author, "Sanekata Ason," was the son of Fujiwara no Sadatoki. Adopted by his uncle Fujiwara no Naritoki, he became Middle Captain of the Left Palace Guards, but went down to Mutsu as governor and died there.
"Uma no Myōbu" in the headnote was a lady-in-waiting at court.
The retired emperor's reply to this poem is placed as the next poem.

The first line, "yae nagara," means "eightfold as ever." It pairs its number with "kokonoe" in the fourth line.
The second line, "iro mo kawaranu," says that the kerria's color is unchanged from before. It overlays the retired emperor's unchanged appearance since his reign.
The third line, "yamabuki no," presents the kerria blossoms tossed over the screen. The kerria is a flower of late spring, carrying on the sequence's things of late spring.
In the fourth line, "nado kokonoe ni," "kokonoe" plays on "ninefold" and "kokonoe," the palace, pairing with "yae," eightfold, in the first line.
The last line, "sakazu narinishi," closes with the attributive form "shi" in response to the interrogative "nado." It regrets that the retired emperor no longer blooms in the ninefold palace, one fold more than eight.
Author: Fujiwara no Sanekata
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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