Akihagi wa sakari suguru o itazura ni kazashi ni sasazu kaerinamu to ya

秋萩は盛り過ぐるをいたづらに
かざしに挿さず帰りなむとや

Roma-ji: Akihagi wa sakari suguru o itazura ni kazashi ni sasazu kaerinamu to ya
English Translation: The autumn clover
is passing now its prime, yet
all in vain, will you
without a spray in your hair
go on home and leave it so?
Meaning: The autumn bush clover is passing its prime; will you go home without even putting a spray of it in your hair, letting it go to waste?
Commentary: Book Eight Autumn Miscellaneous Poems 1559

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Three poems from a banquet at the private quarters of a nun of Toyura Temple in the old capital"
The poem detains the guests of the banquet: the autumn bush clover is passing its prime, yet will they go home in vain without even putting a spray in their hair? The nuns hosting the gathering entrust to the clover their wish that the guests stay a little longer.
The note says, "The above two poems are by the novice nuns," so they are attributed to the nuns who hosted the gathering, but no individual author's name is recorded. A novice nun was one in training who had only recently taken vows.

The first line names the autumn clover blooming in the garden of the banquet.
The second line means "though it is passing its prime." Taking up the clover whose falling in the rain was regretted in 1557 before it, it sings of the clover passing its peak.
The third line means "in vain, to no purpose."
The fourth line means "without placing it in your hair as an ornament." Wearing flowers in the hair was one of the pleasures of a banquet.
The final line, with the perfective "na," volitional "mu," and interrogative "to ya," asks whether they mean to go home, holding the guests back.
Source: Manyoshu
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