Araku fuku kaze wa ika ni to Miyagino no kohagi ga ue o hito no toekashi - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

荒く吹く風はいかにと宮城野の
小萩が上を人の問へかし

Roma-ji: Araku fuku kaze wa ika ni to Miyagino no kohagi ga ue o hito no toekashi
English Translation: "How did you fare
in the fierce wind?" At least
for the little clover
of Miyagino meadow,
someone might have come to ask.
Meaning: "How did you fare in the fierce wind?" You might at least have asked that after the little bush clover of Miyagino—my young child.
Commentary: Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Poems III 1819

Headnote: "To someone who, the morning after an autumn gale, had not even asked after the little one."
This is the second of the poems expressing thoughts through plants and trees. At least ask how the fierce wind treated the little bush clover of Miyagino, the young child. According to the headnote, it was sent the morning after an autumn gale to someone who had not even inquired after the young child; using the child as pretext, it gently reproaches one who has stopped visiting.
The author, "Akazome Emon," was the daughter of Akazome no Tokimochi. She was the wife of Ōe no Masahira and served Jōtōmon-in Shōshi.
Miyagino is a moor in Mutsu Province, in present-day Sendai City, a poetic place famed for its bush clover.

The first line, "araku fuku," means "blowing fiercely," referring to the autumn gale of the headnote.
The second line, "kaze wa ika ni to," means "how was the wind," imagining words of inquiry.
The third line, "Miyagino no," is a poetic place famed for bush clover.
The fourth line, "kohagi ga ue o," means "about the little bush clover." The small clover stands for the young child. Following the dew on the branch in the preceding poem, it entrusts feeling to a plant tossed by the wind.
In the last line, "hito no toekashi," "kashi" is an emphatic final particle, meaning "you might ask, you should ask." It gently voices resentment toward the one who does not come.
Author: Akazome Emon
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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