Hanasusuki ho ni izuru koto mo naki yado wa mukashi shinobu no kusa o koso mire - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

花すすきほに出づることもなき宿は
昔しのぶの草をこそ見れ

Roma-ji: Hanasusuki ho ni izuru koto mo naki yado wa mukashi shinobu no kusa o koso mire
English Translation: Like plumed pampas grass,
never coming out in plume,
in this house of mine
I see only fern of longing
that recalls the days gone by
Meaning: In my house, which never puts forth a showy plume like pampas grass, all I see is the longing fern that recalls the past.
Commentary: Book Six Autumn Poems II 288

Headnote: "When someone sent her very tall pampas plumes, she replied, adding a spray of longing fern."
The poet says that in her house, which never comes out in plume like pampas grass, all she sees is the longing fern that recalls the past. Answering the gift of tall plumed pampas grass, she replies with the loneliness of her house and her longing for days gone by.
According to the headnote, the poet was sent tall pampas plumes and replied with a spray of longing fern attached. The next poem is Ise's reply, which shows that it was Ise who sent the pampas grass.
The poet, called "Chūgū no Senji," was a lady-in-waiting who served the empress as a senji, but there is no settled view of who she was. A senji was the lady who conveyed her mistress's commands.

The first line, "Hanasusuki," is pampas grass in plume, taking up the pampas plumes of the headnote.
In the second line, "ho" is a pivot word joining "ho," the plume of pampas grass, and "ho," appearing openly: "nor ever showing forth." The line has an extra syllable. 267 of Book Five also opens with the same pivot word in "ho ni wa idenu," singing of plumed pampas grass.
The third line, "naki yado wa," means "in a house without it."
In the fourth line, "shinobu" is a pivot word joining "shinobu," to recall with longing, and "shinobu," the longing fern, taking up the fern in the headnote.
The last line, "kusa o koso mire," means "it is only the grass I see," with the particle "koso" and the perfective "mire" forming a kakarimusubi pattern. It has the same form as "iro o koso mire," the last line of 285 in this book.
Author: Chūgū no Senji
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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