Wasuregusa na o mo yuyushimi kari nite mo ou chō yado wa yukite dani miji - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

忘れ草名をもゆゆしみかりにても
生ふてふ宿は行きてだに見じ

Roma-ji: Wasuregusa na o mo yuyushimi kari nite mo ou chō yado wa yukite dani miji
English Translation: Forgetting-grass—
its very name I dread, so
even but to reap it
to a house where they say it grows
I would not go to look
Meaning: I dread even the name of forgetting-grass, so I would not go, not even in passing to reap it, to look at a house where they say it grows.
Commentary: Book Fourteen Love Poems VI 1050

Headnote: "Composed when, having long failed to visit someone close to him, she sent him the words 'Forgetting-grass, from what seed did I think it grew?'"
The poet says that he dreads even the name of forgetting-grass and would not go, not even in passing, to look at a house where it is said to grow. Reproached for his long absence, he excuses himself by saying he only avoided the house where forgetting-grass grows.
According to the headnote, he had long failed to visit someone close to him, and she sent him the line "wasuregusa nani o ka tane to omoishi wa"; the reply is placed in the next poem, 1051. The line is the upper half of a poem by the monk Sosei in Love Poems V of the Kokinshu, "wasuregusa nani o ka tane to omoishi wa tsurenaki hito no kokoro narikeri." 1060 in this book also speaks of forgetting-grass.
The poet is listed as anonymous, and the composer's name has not come down to us.

The first line, "Wasuregusa," is the day lily, a plant said to make one forget sorrow when worn. It appears again in the third line of the next poem.
The second line, "na o mo yuyushimi," means "since even its name is ominous," with "mi" a suffix marking a cause.
The third line, "kari nite mo," means "even in passing," with "kari" joining going to reap the grass and "kari," temporary.
The fourth line, "ou chō yado wa," means "a house where it is said to grow," pointing obliquely to her house.
The last line, "yukite dani miji," means "I would not even go to look," with "ji" a negative auxiliary of intention. "Uete dani mishi" in the fourth line of the next poem takes it up.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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