Mimaku hori koitsutsu machishi akihagi wa hana nomi sakite narazu kamo aramu

見まく欲り恋ひつつ待ちし秋萩は
花のみ咲きてならずかもあらむ

Roma-ji: Mimaku hori koitsutsu machishi akihagi wa hana nomi sakite narazu kamo aramu
English Translation: Longing to see it,
I waited, yearning always,
for the autumn clover—
will it flower, and flower only,
and never bear its fruit?
Meaning: The autumn bush clover I waited for, yearning and longing to see it—will it only blossom and never bear fruit?
Commentary: Book Seven Allegorical Poems 1364

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On Flowers"
The poet fears that the autumn bush clover, long awaited with yearning, will only blossom and never bear fruit. Flowers without fruit express the anxiety that this love will not be fulfilled.
It is one of the poems under the heading "On Flowers." The fourth line, "will it flower, and flower only," is the same as in poem 1358 in this book, and where that poem expresses confidence, this one voices anxiety, so the two form a pair. It also picks up the bush clover of the preceding poem and leads on to "autumn clover" and "fruit" in the next poem. The poet is unknown.

The first line, "Longing to see it," expresses the wish to see.
The second line, "I waited, yearning always," describes the long wait.
The third line, "for the autumn clover," picks up the bush clover of the preceding poem.
The fourth line, "will it flower, and flower only," is the same as the fourth line of poem 1358 in this book.
In the final line, "ka" is answered by the attributive "mu"; in contrast to the rhetorical "narazu arame ya mo" of poem 1358, it takes the form of doubt.
Source: Manyoshu
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