Ominaeshi hana no na naranu mono naraba nani ka wa kimi ga kazashi ni mo sen - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

女郎花花の名ならぬものならば
何かは君がかざしにもせん

Roma-ji: Ominaeshi hana no na naranu mono naraba nani ka wa kimi ga kazashi ni mo sen
English Translation: O maiden flower,
if yours were not the name
of the flower you bear,
why would I ever take you
to adorn your hair, my lord
Meaning: If the maiden flower did not bear that name, why would I ever make it an ornament for your hair?
Commentary: Book Six Autumn Poems II 348

Headnote: "Picking maiden flowers to set in Prince Atsuyoshi's hair as an ornament, toward evening at the banquet after the sumo matches." And: "This was when the prince had for years been sending letters to the daughter of the house, and the poet, saying it was a light matter for her, had not given his consent."
The poet asks why he would set the maiden flower in the prince's hair were it not for the flower's name, "woman"—it is for that name that he does so. Through the maiden flower's name, he hints at his own daughter.
According to the headnote, it was composed toward evening at the banquet after the sumo matches, when the poet picked maiden flowers and set them in Prince Atsuyoshi's hair. The latter part of the headnote explains that the prince had for years been sending letters to the poet's daughter, but the poet, saying it was a light matter for her, had not consented to the match. Prince Atsuyoshi was a son of Emperor Uda and had a daughter, Nakatsukasa, by Ise.
The poet, called "the Sanjō Minister of the Right," is Fujiwara no Sadakata. A son of the Palace Minister Fujiwara no Takafuji, he rose to Minister of the Right. Because his residence was at Sanjō, he was called the Sanjō Minister of the Right, and he was a patron of Ki no Tsurayuki and others. His "na ni shi owaba Ōsakayama no sanekazura" is included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.

The first line, "Ominaeshi," means "the maiden flower," likened to the poet's daughter.
The second line, "hana no na naranu," means "not a flower so named," singing of the maiden flower's name, as does "hana no na o nomi" in 345 of this book.
In the third line, "ba" gives a hypothetical condition: "if it were such a thing."
In the fourth line, "ka wa" is rhetorical: "why would I, for you."
In the last line, "n," the attributive form of the auxiliary of intent "mu," completes the kakarimusubi pattern with "ka wa" in the fourth line: "would I make it your ornament?"—meaning he would not. That he does so for the name alone hints at his daughter.
Author: Fujiwara no Sadakata
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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