Tsuki miba to iishi bakari no hito wa kode maki no to tataku niwa no matsukaze - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

月見ばと言ひしばかりの人は来で
真木の戸たたく庭の松風

Roma-ji: Tsuki miba to iishi bakari no hito wa kode maki no to tataku niwa no matsukaze
English Translation: 'When the moon is out,'
he said, and only said it,
that one who does not come—
knocking at my cedar door
is the pine wind in the yard.
Meaning: The one who said only, "When the moon is out, I'll come," has not come—the only thing knocking at my cedar door is the wind in the garden pines.
Commentary: Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Poems I 1519

Headnote: "When I presented a hundred-poem sequence."
This is the sixth poem of the sequence thinking of others through the moon. The one who only said he would come when the moon was out has not come; all that knocks at the cedar door is the wind in the garden pines. According to the headnote, it was composed when a hundred-poem sequence was presented to Retired Emperor Go-Toba.
The author, "the Regent and Chancellor," is Fujiwara no Yoshitsune. The son of Kujō Kanezane, he became Regent and Grand Minister. He wrote the kana preface of the Shin Kokinshū.

The first line, "tsuki miba to," means "if I am to see the moon," presenting the other person's words about visiting on a moonlit night.
The second line, "iishi bakari no," means "who only said so." It shows that the promise was only words.
The third line, "hito wa kode," uses the negative conjunctive "de," meaning "the person does not come." As in the preceding poem, which waited for one who had promised, it sings of a heart waiting for one who does not come.
In the fourth line, "maki no to tataku," "maki no to" is a door made of fine timber such as cedar or cypress. It shows the heart stirred by the sound of knocking, thinking someone has come.
The last line, "niwa no matsukaze," ends on a noun. It was not a person but the wind in the garden pines that knocked, heightening the loneliness of the one who waits.
Author: Fujiwara no Yoshitsune
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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