Ominaeshi iro ni mo aru kana matsumushi o moto ni yadoshite tare o matsuran - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

女郎花色にもあるかな松虫を
もとに宿して誰を待つらん

Roma-ji: Ominaeshi iro ni mo aru kana matsumushi o moto ni yadoshite tare o matsuran
English Translation: O maiden flower,
how amorous you are—
with the pine cricket
lodged already at your roots,
for whom else can you be waiting
Meaning: How fickle you are, maiden flower—with the pine cricket already lodged at your roots, whom else are you waiting for?
Commentary: Book Six Autumn Poems II 346

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
The poet exclaims how amorous the maiden flower is, wondering whom else it waits for while it lodges the pine cricket at its roots. Echoing "waiting" in the pine cricket's name, it likens the maiden flower to a fickle woman who keeps one man at home while waiting for another.
339 of this book likewise pairs the maiden flower with the pine cricket.
The poet is listed as "anonymous," and the composer's name has not come down to us.

The first line, "Ominaeshi," means "the maiden flower."
In the second line, "iro" layers the color of the flower and amorousness, the passion of love. "Kana" is an exclamatory particle: "how amorous it is." The line has an extra syllable, and the poem pauses here.
The third line, "matsumushi o," means "the pine cricket," with "matsu," pine, echoing "matsu," to wait.
In the fourth line, "moto" means the roots: "lodging the pine cricket at its roots."
In the last line, "ran" is the auxiliary of present conjecture: "whom can it be waiting for?" It doubles "matsumushi" in the third line with "matsu," to wait. 260 of Book Five uses the same conceit in "tare o matsumushi."
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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