Toshi o hete hana no tayori ni koto towaba itodo ada naru na o ya tachinan - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

年を経て花のたよりに言問はば
いとどあだなる名をや立ちなん

Roma-ji: Toshi o hete hana no tayori ni koto towaba itodo ada naru na o ya tachinan
English Translation: After all these years,
should I send word on the pretext
of asking for flowers,
would it only spread the more
my name as a fickle man?
Meaning: If, after all these years, I were to write to you using the flowers as my pretext, would it only spread my name all the more as a fickle man?
Commentary: Book Two Spring Poems II 78

Headnote: "When asking for flowers at the house of someone he had forgotten."
Wishing to ask for flowers at the house of a woman he had long neglected, the poet wonders whether, writing after so many years with the flowers as a pretext, he would only earn more of a reputation for fickleness. Admitting the awkwardness of long estrangement, he seeks to renew their ties through the blossoms.
According to the headnote, it was composed when he sought to ask for flowers at the house of someone he had long stopped visiting.
The poet, called "Kanemi no Ōkimi," is Prince Kanemi. He was a son of Prince Koretaka and served as Minister of the Imperial Household and in other posts.

The first line, "Toshi o hete," shows that the poet has long been estranged.
In the second line, "tayori" means occasion or pretext: "with the flowers as an excuse."
The third line, "koto towaba," means "if I send word," setting a condition.
In the fourth line, "ada nari" means fickle or insincere, and also resonates with the transience of quickly scattering flowers.
In the last line, "ya" is an interrogative particle forming a kakarimusubi pattern with the attributive "nan," as he worries that a reputation for fickleness will spread.
Author: Kanramu Ou
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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