Yoi no ma ni haya nagusameyo isonokami furinishi toko mo uchiharau beku - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

宵の間にはや慰めよ石上
古りにし床もうち払ふべく

Roma-ji: Yoi no ma ni haya nagusameyo isonokami furinishi toko mo uchiharau beku
English Translation: While evening lasts,
come, comfort me quickly,
so that, like Isonokami,
the bed grown old with time
may be swept clean again
Meaning: While it is still evening, comfort me quickly, so that even the bed grown old and dusty, like ancient Isonokami, may be swept clean.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems III 756

Headnote: "When a woman in palace service, after a long interval, said she wished to talk with him, and he arrived late."
The poet asks her to comfort him quickly while it is still evening, so that the bed grown old may be swept clean. Arriving late at the house of a woman who had asked to meet after a long time, he begs her to ease his heart soon, with a note of apology for keeping her waiting.
According to the headnote, a woman in palace service had asked to speak with him after a long interval, but he went to her late and composed this poem. The next poem, 757, is Ise's reply.
The poet, called "the Biwa Minister of the Left," was Fujiwara no Nakahira. A son of Regent Fujiwara no Mototsune, he rose to Minister of the Left. He was so called because he lived at the Biwa mansion, and he is known to have had a love affair with Ise.

The first line, "Yoi no ma ni," means "while it is evening."
The second line, "haya nagusameyo," means "comfort me quickly," and the poem pauses here.
The third line, "isonokami," is a place in Yamato, used as a pillow word leading to the like-sounding "furu," to grow old.
The fourth line, "furinishi toko mo," means "the bed that has grown old," referring to his long absence. The second line of the next poem, 757, "arenishi toko o," answers with the same word, "toko."
The last line, "uchiharau beku," means "so that it may be swept," referring to brushing away the dust on the bed.
Author: Fujiwara no Nakahira
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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