Yukikaeru yasoujibito no tamakazura kakete zo tanomu aoi chō na o - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

行きかへる八十氏人の玉かづら
かけてぞ頼むあふひてふ名を

Roma-ji: Yukikaeru yasoujibito no tamakazura kakete zo tanomu aoi chō na o
English Translation: Coming and going,
the many clans of people wear
jeweled garlands,
and I hang my hopes upon it,
the name aoi, day of meeting
Meaning: The crowds of people coming and going wear garlands of hollyhock, and I too hang my hopes on that name, aoi, "the day we meet."
Commentary: Book Four Summer Poems 161

Headnote: "Sent in to the carriage of a woman watching the Kamo Festival."
The poet says that he sets his hopes on the name of the hollyhock, aoi, which the crowds at the Kamo Festival hang in their hair, for it also means "the day we meet." Overlaying the festival hollyhock with a day of meeting, he conveys his love to a woman watching the festival.
According to the headnote, the poem was sent in to the carriage of a woman watching the Kamo Festival. Because people hung hollyhock on their caps and carriages, the festival is also called the Aoi Festival. The next poem is the woman's reply, and the two form an exchange.
The poet is listed as "anonymous," and the composer's name has not come down to us.
It is also included in Fujiwara no Teika's anthology Teika Hachidaishō.

The first line, "Yukikaeru," means "coming and going," showing the bustle of people passing to watch the festival.
The second line, "yasoujibito no," means "of the people of many clans," the great crowds gathered for the festival.
The third line, "tamakazura," is a lovely ornament worn in the hair, here the garland of hollyhock. It leads on to "kaku," to hang, in the fourth line.
In the fourth line, "kakete" is a pivot word joining hanging the garland in one's hair and setting one's heart on something. "Zo" is an emphatic particle forming a kakarimusubi pattern with the attributive "tanomu." The next poem, 162, answers with the same word in "kakete mo iu na."
In the last line, "aoi" is a pivot word joining the festival hollyhock and "au hi," the day of meeting. It is inverted with the fourth line: "I trust in the name, day of meeting." The next poem, 162, takes it up by placing "aoi chō na wa" in its fourth line.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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