Akihagi wa kari ni awaji to iereba ka koe o kikite wa hana ni chirinuru

秋萩は雁に逢はじと言へればか
声を聞きては花に散りぬる

Roma-ji: Akihagi wa kari ni awaji to iereba ka koe o kikite wa hana ni chirinuru
English Translation: The autumn clover,
"I will not meet the wild geese,"
has it said, perhaps?
For when it hears their crying,
all its blossoms scatter down.
Meaning: Is it because the autumn bush clover has vowed never to meet the wild geese, that when it hears their cries its blossoms scatter?
Commentary: Book Ten Autumn Miscellaneous Poems 2126

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On Flowers"
This poem imagines that the bush clover scatters on hearing the geese because it has said it will not meet them. It wittily captures the turning of the seasons, when bush clover falls as the geese arrive, as an exchange of hearts between clover and geese. The kundoku carries a variant for the third line, "iere ka mo." A group on geese follows the bush clover group, and this poem stands as a bridge from clover to geese.

The first line, "the autumn bush clover," marks the theme.
In the second line, "kari ni awaji to," "ji" expresses negative intention: I will not meet the geese.
In the third line, "iereba ka," "ka" is an interrogative particle in kakari-musubi with "nuru" in the last line: is it because it said so?
The fourth line, "on hearing their voices," names the trigger.
In the last line, "hana ni chirinuru," "nuru" is the attributive of the completive "nu," answering "ka," closing with the clover falling at the geese's cry.
Source: Manyoshu
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