Ha o wakami ho ni koso idene hanasusuki shita no kokoro ni musubazarame ya - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

葉を若みほにこそ出でね花すすき
下の心に結ばざらめや

Roma-ji: Ha o wakami ho ni koso idene hanasusuki shita no kokoro ni musubazarame ya
English Translation: Its leaves still young,
it has yet to show its plumes,
that pampas grass—
yet deep down in its heart
would it not tie the knot
Meaning: Like pampas grass whose leaves are still too young to show their plumes, you do not let your feelings appear, yet deep in your heart, would you not tie the bond with me?
Commentary: Book Ten Love Poems II 604

Headnote: "Sent, again, to a woman who was still young."
The poet says that like pampas grass whose leaves are too young to put out plumes, the young woman does not show her feelings, yet surely deep in her heart she ties the bond with him. Likening the young girl to grass not yet in plume, he hopes for a hidden affection.
According to the headnote, the poem was sent to a woman who was still young. Following the poems sent at the start of a courtship, it sets the woman's youth in the image of pampas grass.
The poet, Minamoto no Nakamasa, lived in the early Heian period, and few details of his life have come down to us.

The first line, "Ha o wakami," means "because its leaves are young," with "o ... mi" expressing cause; it is a figure for the young woman.
In the second line, "ho" is a pivot word joining the "plumes" of pampas grass and "ho" meaning to show on the surface. "Koso" is emphatic and closes with "ne," the perfective of the negative "zu," leading on adversatively.
The third line, "hanasusuki," is pampas grass in plume, and the upper verse is gathered here.
The fourth line, "shita no kokoro ni," means "deep in the heart," with an echo of the lower leaves and roots of the grass.
The last line, "musubazarame ya," is rhetorical: "would it not tie?"—surely it will. "Musubu" is an associated word with the pampas grass, meaning to tie one's feelings or a bond of love.
Author: Minamoto no Nakamasa
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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