Hito sumanu fuwa no sekiya no itabisashi arenishi nochi wa tada aki no kaze - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

人住まぬ不破の関屋の板びさし
荒れにし後はただ秋の風

Roma-ji: Hito sumanu fuwa no sekiya no itabisashi arenishi nochi wa tada aki no kaze
English Translation: Where no one lives now,
at the Fuwa barrier house,
the board-roofed eaves—
ever since they fell to ruin,
only the autumn wind.
Meaning: The board eaves of the Fuwa barrier house, where no one lives—since they fell to ruin, there is only the autumn wind.
Commentary: Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems II 1601

Headnote: "On the topic 'Autumn Wind on the Barrier Road,' for a poetry contest at the Bureau of Poetry."
This is a single poem on a barrier, taking up the Suma Barrier of the two preceding poems and turning to the Fuwa Barrier. The board eaves of the Fuwa barrier house, where no one lives, have fallen to ruin, and now only the autumn wind blows. According to the headnote, it was composed on the topic "Autumn Wind on the Barrier Road" at a poetry contest of the Bureau of Poetry.
The author, "Sesshō Daijō-daijin," is Fujiwara no Yoshitsune. A son of Kujō Kanezane, he rose to Regent and Chancellor. He wrote the Kana Preface of the Shin Kokinshū.
The Bureau of Poetry was established by Retired Emperor Go-Toba at his palace in Kennin 1 (1201) to compile the imperial anthology.
The Fuwa Barrier stood in Mino Province, in present-day Sekigahara, Fuwa District, Gifu Prefecture. Once one of the Three Barriers of ancient times, it was abolished in the Enryaku era, and thereafter its ruined barrier house came to be sung.

The first line, "hito sumanu," means "where no one lives," first presenting a barrier without even a guard.
The second line, "fuwa no sekiya no," means "of the barrier house at Fuwa." From the Suma Barrier of the two preceding poems, the scene moves to the Fuwa Barrier on the road to the eastern provinces.
The third line, "itabisashi," is eaves roofed with boards. The poem breaks at this noun after the third line, fixing the eye on the ruined eaves.
The fourth line, "arenishi nochi wa," means "after it has fallen to ruin." The perfective "ni" and the past "shi" show that the ruin is of long standing.
The last line, "tada aki no kaze," ends in a noun, depicting a barrier house with no human presence where only the autumn wind blows through. Like the last line of 1596 in this book, "akikaze zo fuku," it closes by setting the autumn wind upon a desolate ruin.
Author: Fujiwara no Yoshitsune
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
Prev Poem: Suma no seki yume o tōsanu nami no oto o omoi mo yorade yado o karikeru
Next Poem: Ama obune toma fukikaesu urakaze ni hitori akashi no tsuki o koso mire