Wasureji no hito dani towanu yamaji kana sakura wa yuki ni furikawaredomo - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

忘れじの人だに訪はぬ山路かな
桜は雪に降り変はれども

Roma-ji: Wasureji no hito dani towanu yamaji kana sakura wa yuki ni furikawaredomo
English Translation: Even one who swore
"I'll not forget" does not come
by this mountain path—
though the cherry blossoms falling
have turned into falling snow.
Meaning: Not even the one who swore never to forget comes up this mountain path—though the falling cherry blossoms have long since turned to falling snow.
Commentary: Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems II 1667

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On the spirit of a mountain dwelling, when I presented a hundred-poem sequence."
This is the fourth poem of the sequence on mountain dwellings and mountain paths. Not even the one who swore never to forget comes up this mountain path, though the falling cherry blossoms have turned to falling snow. According to the headnote, it was composed on the topic of a mountain dwelling when he presented a hundred-poem sequence.
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 first line, "wasureji no," means "who swore not to forget." "Ji" expresses negative intention.
The second line, "hito dani towanu," means "not even that person visits." "Dani" implies "much less anyone else."
The third line, "yamaji kana," means "such is this mountain path." The poem breaks here after the third line with the exclamation "kana." It takes up the "mountain path" of the two preceding poems.
The fourth line, "sakura wa yuki ni," means "the cherry blossoms, into snow."
The last line, "furikawaredomo," means "though what falls has changed." It shows that time enough has passed for what falls to change from spring's scattering blossoms to winter's snow. It echoes the mountain village of 1660 in this book, where visits grow ever fewer.
Author: Fujiwara no Yoshitsune
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
Prev Poem: Shikimi tsumu yamaji no tsuyu ni nurenikeri akatsuki oki no sumizome no sode
Next Poem: Kage yadosu tsuyu nomi shigeku narihatete kusa ni yatsururu furusato no tsuki