Kiku no hana Nagatsuki goto ni sakikureba hisashiki kokoro aki ya shiruramu - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

菊の花長月ごとに咲き来れば
久しき心秋や知るらむ

Roma-ji: Kiku no hana Nagatsuki goto ni sakikureba hisashiki kokoro aki ya shiruramu
English Translation: Chrysanthemum flowers,
since they have bloomed on and on
each Long Month,
does autumn know, I wonder,
their long-enduring heart
Meaning: Since the chrysanthemums have bloomed on and on each ninth month, does autumn know their long-enduring heart?
Commentary: Book Seven Autumn Poems III 397

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
The poet wonders whether autumn knows the long-enduring heart of the chrysanthemums, which have bloomed every ninth month without fail. In flowers that bloom unchanged year after year, it sees a true heart that does not change.
From 397 to 400 of this book, poems on chrysanthemum flowers follow one another.
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, "Kiku no hana," means "the chrysanthemum flowers." 399 of this book also places "kiku no hana" in its third line.
The second line, "Nagatsuki goto ni," means "each ninth month." The "naga," long, of "Nagatsuki" echoes "hisashiki" in the fourth line. The next poem places the same "Nagatsuki goto ni" in its second line.
The third line, "sakikureba," means "since they have bloomed on and on."
The fourth line, "hisashiki kokoro," means "a long-enduring heart."
In the last line, "ya" is an interrogative particle forming a kakarimusubi pattern with the attributive "ramu": "does autumn know it?"
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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