Matsuyama no sue kosu nami no enishi araba kimi ga sode ni wa ato mo tomaraji - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

松山の末越す浪のえにしあらば
君が袖には跡もとまらじ

Roma-ji: Matsuyama no sue kosu nami no enishi araba kimi ga sode ni wa ato mo tomaraji
English Translation: If our bond is like
the waves that sweep across
Matsuyama's crown,
then on your sleeves, I fear,
not a trace of them will stay
Meaning: If our bond is like the waves that sweep over the top of Mount Matsuyama, fickle and faithless, then not even a trace of them will linger on your sleeves.
Commentary: Book Thirteen Love Poems V 932

Headnote: "Reply."
The poet says that if their bond is like the waves that sweep over the top of Mount Matsuyama, not a trace will stay on his sleeves. Using the image of waves crossing Sue no Matsuyama, a figure for a changed heart, she retorts that his bond is fickle, so no mark of the waves will remain on his sleeves.
It is the reply to the preceding poem, 931. Taking up all its words, pine, waves, sleeves and "enishi," she answers his talk of an unchanging bond with a bond like waves crossing the pine-clad mountain. Waves crossing Sue no Matsuyama have been a figure for faithlessness since the Eastland poem in the Kokinshu, "kimi o okite adashi gokoro o waga motaba sue no matsuyama nami mo koenamu."
The poet, Tosa, was a lady-in-waiting of the time of the Gosenshu, and little more is known of her life.

The first line, "Matsuyama no," means "of Matsuyama," the poetic place Sue no Matsuyama in Michinoku, taking up "matsu" in the preceding poem.
The second line, "sue kosu nami no," means "of the waves that cross its top," waves crossing the mountain being a figure for a changed heart. It takes up "nami" in the preceding poem.
The third line, "enishi araba," means "if there is a bond," with "enishi" joining the pine's branch and a bond. It repeats the third line of the preceding poem.
The fourth line, "kimi ga sode ni wa," means "on your sleeves," taking up "sode" in the preceding poem.
The last line, "ato mo tomaraji," means "not even a trace will stay," with "ji" a negative conjectural auxiliary.
Author: Tosa
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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