Waga yado no kimi matsu no ki ni furu yuki no yuki ni wa yukaji machi ni shi matamu

我がやどの君松の木に降る雪の
行きには行かじ待にし待たむ

Roma-ji: Waga yado no kimi matsu no ki ni furu yuki no yuki ni wa yukaji machi ni shi matamu
English Translation: In my garden here,
on the pine that waits for you,
the falling of snow—
so I will not go to you,
but wait, and wait on, I will
Meaning: Like the snow that falls on the pine in my garden, the tree whose name means "waiting for you," I will not go to you; I will only wait, and wait on.
Commentary: Book Six Miscellaneous Poems 1041

Headnote: "A poem from the banquet held when the ministers and courtiers gathered at the house of Abe no Asomi Mushimaro on the fifth day of the first month of spring in the sixteenth year, the year of kinoe-saru [author uncertain]"
The poem says: like the "yuki" of the snow that falls on the pine in my garden, I will not "yuki," go, but will simply wait. According to the headnote, it was composed at a banquet held when the ministers and courtiers gathered at the house of Abe no Mushimaro on the fifth day of the first month of Tenpyō 16 (744). Layering wordplay that echoes "matsu" (to wait) in "matsu" (pine) and "yuki" (to go) in "yuki" (snow), it weaves in the snowy scene of the New Year while expressing a host's heart waiting for guests, or a lover's heart that goes on waiting.
The headnote bears the note "author uncertain," and the poet is unknown. There is room to read it as composed from the standpoint of the host, Abe no Mushimaro, but nothing can be said for certain.

Where the preceding poem, 1040, spoke of going home with "then go," this poem speaks of not going with "I will not go," so that within this sequence of banquet poems the guest's reluctance to leave and the host's heart of waiting form a pair.
The first line, "In my garden here," means "of my house," and the poem begins with the garden scene of the house where the banquet is held.
The second line, "on the pine that waits for you," contains a pivot word: "matsu" means both pine and to wait, so the tree is one whose name means waiting for you. The next two poems, 1042 and 1043, also sing of pines, making three poems in a row on the pine.
The third line, "the falling of snow," completes the upper verse, which serves as a preface leading into "yuki," to go, a homophone of "yuki," snow. It is also a snowy scene well suited to a New Year banquet.
The fourth line, "so I will not go to you," means "I will never go." It repeats the same verb, "yuki" and "yuka," and "-ji" expresses negative intention.
The final line, "but wait, and wait on, I will," means "I will wait and wait," an emphatic expression that, like the fourth line, repeats the same word. The pivot on "pine" in the second line is resolved here as "to wait," completing the wordplay of the poem.
Source: Manyoshu
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