Hanasusuki ho ni ideyasuki kusa nareba mi ni naran to wa tanomarenaku ni - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

花すすきほに出でやすき草なれば
身にならんとはたのまれなくに

Roma-ji: Hanasusuki ho ni ideyasuki kusa nareba mi ni naran to wa tanomarenaku ni
English Translation: Plumed pampas grass
is a grass that so readily
comes out into plume,
so that it will bear true fruit
is not a thing I can trust
Meaning: Plumed pampas grass is a grass so quick to come out into plume that I cannot trust it ever to bear fruit.
Commentary: Book Seven Autumn Poems III 354

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
The poet says that because pampas grass comes into plume so readily, one cannot trust it to bear fruit. Through the grass, it laments that a love too quick to show itself cannot be expected to come to fruition.
It is the third of the poems on plumed pampas grass that begin with 352. Taking up "ho ni zo idekeru," the close of 352, it sings of the frailty of coming into plume.
The poet is listed as "anonymous," and the composer's name has not come down to us. The text gives the poet as "yomibito mo," which is treated here as "anonymous."

The first line, "Hanasusuki," is pampas grass in plume, the same word as the third line of 352 and the first line of the preceding poem.
In the second line, "ho" is a pivot word meaning both the "plume" of the grass and "ho," to show outwardly, hinting at a love easily seen by others.
The third line, "kusa nareba," means "since it is a grass."
In the fourth line, "mi" plays on both the "fruit" of the grass and the poet's own "self": "that it will bear fruit."
In the last line, "re" is the irrealis form of the potential auxiliary "ru": "it cannot be relied on." "Naku ni" closes the poem with a sigh.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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