Mimu to iwaba ina to iwame ya ume no hana chirisuguru made kimi ga kimasanu

見むと言はば否と言はめや梅の花
散り過ぐるまで君が来まさぬ

Roma-ji: Mimu to iwaba ina to iwame ya ume no hana chirisuguru made kimi ga kimasanu
English Translation: Had you said to me,
"I would see them," would I say no?
The plum blossoms here
till they scattered and were gone,
it was you who never came
Meaning: If you had said you wished to see them, would I have refused? It was you who never came until the plum blossoms had all scattered.
Commentary: Book Twenty Miscellaneous Poems 4497

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "In the second month, a banquet at the residence of Nakatomi no Kiyomaro, Senior Assistant Minister of Ceremonial; fifteen poems."
Had you asked to see them, would I have refused? It was you who never came until the plums had scattered: as host, Kiyomaro parries Imaki's complaint. The left note attributes it to the host, Nakatomi no Kiyomaro. Using the same line "until they scattered," he turns the blame back on his guest in an exchange that warms the gathering.
The author, Nakatomi no Kiyomaro, was a son of Nakatomi no Omimaro. He later received the surname Ōnakatomi and rose to Minister of the Right. At this time he was Senior Assistant Minister of Ceremonial.

The first line, "mimu to iwaba," "if you had said you wished to see," is a supposition.
The second line, "ina to iwame ya," uses meya as a rhetorical question: would I say no? Never. The poem pauses here.
The third line, "ume no hana," takes up "the plums of your garden" in the preceding poem.
The fourth line, "chirisuguru made," is the same as the fourth line of the preceding poem, returning its words exactly.
The closing line, "kimi ga kimasanu," with the honorific masu, "it was you who did not come," hands the blame back.
Author: Nakatomi no Kiyomaro
Source: Manyoshu
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