Momijiba mo shigure mo tsurashi mare ni kite kaeran hito o furi ya todomenu - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

紅葉葉も時雨もつらしまれに来て
帰らん人を降りやとどめぬ

Roma-ji: Momijiba mo shigure mo tsurashi mare ni kite kaeran hito o furi ya todomenu
English Translation: The autumn leaves
and the showers, too, are cruel:
one who rarely came
and was about to leave—
they did not fall to hold him
Meaning: How heartless are both the autumn leaves and the showers: when someone came so rarely and was about to leave, they did not fall to keep him there.
Commentary: Book Eight Winter Poems 455

Headnote: "Reply."
The poet says that both the autumn leaves and the showers are heartless, for they did not fall to keep back one who came so rarely and was about to leave. Taking up Tadafusa's words in the preceding poem, that he left on account of the leaves and showers, the poem blames those very leaves and showers and conveys the poet's regret at having been away.
It is a reply to the preceding poem by Fujiwara no Tadafusa. It answers his "momijiba wa," "shigure to tomo ni" and "furidete" with "momijiba mo," "shigure mo" and "furi ya."
The poet, called "Ōe no Chifuru," was a scholar and poet of the early Heian period. A son of Ōe no Otondo, he served as tutor to Emperor Daigo.

The first line, "Momijiba mo," means "the autumn leaves too," answering "momijiba wa" in the preceding poem.
In the second line, "tsurashi" means "heartless," and the poem pauses here. Taking up "shigure to tomo ni" in the preceding poem, it blames the showers as well.
The third line, "mare ni kite," means "having come so rarely," referring to how seldom Tadafusa visits.
In the fourth line, "n" is the attributive form of the auxiliary of intent "mu": "the one about to go home."
In the last line, "ya" is an interrogative particle forming a kakarimusubi pattern with the attributive "nu": "did they not fall to hold him?" It takes up the "furi" of "furidete" in the preceding poem.
Author: Ōe no Chifuru
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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