Matsu ni kuru hito shi nakereba haru no no no wakana mo nani mo kai nakari keri - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

まつに来る人しなければ春の野の
若菜も何もかひなかりけり

Roma-ji: Matsu ni kuru hito shi nakereba haru no no no wakana mo nani mo kai nakari keri
English Translation: Coming to the pines
where I waited, there was no one,
and so in spring fields
the young greens and all the rest
have proved to be of no worth
Meaning: Though I waited among the pines, the one I hoped would come never came, and so the young greens of the spring fields, and everything else, were all to no purpose.
Commentary: Book One Spring Poems I 6

Headnote: "The Retired Emperor's reply."
This is Retired Emperor Suzaku's reply to Fujiwara no Saneyori, who in the preceding poem apologized for missing the Day of the Rat. The Emperor says that since the one he awaited never came, the pleasures of the spring fields were in vain, regretting his absence.
It forms a pair of exchanged poems with the preceding poem, 5. The Retired Emperor feigns reproach at his retainer's absence with evident affection, revealing a close bond between lord and vassal.
The poet, called "Suzaku-in," is Emperor Suzaku. A son of Emperor Daigo and Fujiwara no Onshi, he reigned as the sixty-first emperor and after abdicating lived at the Suzaku-in.

In the first line, "matsu ni kuru," "matsu" is a pivot word joining the "pine" pulled on the Day of the Rat and "waiting" for someone. It answers "pulling pines" in the preceding poem, 5.
In the second line, the particle "shi" is emphatic, stressing that the person who should have come is absent.
The third line, "in spring fields," names the fields that were the scene of the Day of the Rat outing.
The fourth line, "the young greens and all the rest," takes up "nor picking young greens" from the preceding poem, meaning the greens and everything else besides.
In the last line, "keri" expresses a sigh, as he dwells anew on how it was all to no avail.
Author: Emperor Suzaku
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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