Komu to iishi hodo ya suginuru aki no no ni tare matsumushi zo koe no kanashiki - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

来むと言ひしほどや過ぎぬる秋の野に
誰松虫ぞ声の悲しき

Roma-ji: Komu to iishi hodo ya suginuru aki no no ni tare matsumushi zo koe no kanashiki
English Translation: Has the time now passed
when someone said they would come?
in the autumn fields,
waiting for whom, pine cricket,
is your voice so filled with grief
Meaning: Has the time passed when someone promised to come? In the autumn fields, whom does the pine cricket wait for, that its voice is so sad?
Commentary: Book Five Autumn Poems I 259

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
The poet wonders whether the time promised for someone's coming has passed, and asks whom the pine cricket in the autumn fields is waiting for, that its voice is so sad. Echoing "waiting" in the pine cricket, he entrusts to the insect's voice the lament of a woman still waiting for one who has not come though the promised time is past.
From 254 to 261, this book sets eight untitled poems by Ki no Tsurayuki in a row, turning in order to the voices of autumn insects: the evening cicada, the cricket, and the pine cricket.
The poet, called "Tsurayuki," is Ki no Tsurayuki. A son of Ki no Mochiyuki, he was the leading compiler of the Kokin Wakashū and wrote its kana preface. He served as governor of Tosa among other posts, is known as the author of the Tosa Diary, and is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

In the first line, "mu" expresses intent and "shi" is the attributive form of the past auxiliary "ki": "that someone said they would come."
In the second line, "ya" is an interrogative particle forming a kakarimusubi pattern with the attributive "nuru": "has the time passed?" The poem pauses here.
The third line, "aki no no ni," means "in the autumn fields." The next poem, 260, opens with the same "aki no no ni."
The fourth line, "tare matsumushi zo," means "the pine cricket waiting for whom," with "matsu," pine, joined to "matsu," to wait. "Zo" is an emphatic particle. The next poem, 260, uses the same conceit in "tare o matsumushi."
The last line, "koe no kanashiki," means "how sad its voice," with "zo" in the fourth line and the attributive "kanashiki" forming a kakarimusubi pattern.
Author: Ki no Tsurayuki
Source: Gosen Wakashu
Prev Poem: Waga gotoku mono ya kanashiki kirigirisu kusa no yadori ni koe taezu naku
Next Poem: Aki no no ni kiyadoru hito mo omohoezu tare o matsumushi kokora nakuran