Ima made ni nado ka wa hana no sakazu shite yosotose amari toshikiri wa suru - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

今までになどかは花の咲かずして
四十年あまり年切りはする

Roma-ji: Ima made ni nado ka wa hana no sakazu shite yosotose amari toshikiri wa suru
English Translation: Until this day,
why is it the blossoms
have not opened yet—
forty years and more you've passed
as a tree that bears no flower
Meaning: Why is it that, until now, your blossoms have never opened, and for forty years and more you have gone on as a tree that bears nothing?
Commentary: Book Fifteen Miscellaneous Poems I 1077

Headnote: "When Ki no Tomonori had not yet received an office, an occasion arose, and when I asked him how old he had become, he said he was past forty, so I wrote this."
The poet asks why, until now, the blossoms have never opened, and why the tree has passed forty years and more without bearing. Likening Tomonori, still without office, to a tree that never flowers, he wonders at his misfortune and offers him sympathy.
According to the headnote, when Ki no Tomonori had not yet been given an office, the poet happened to ask his age, and Tomonori answered that he was past forty. Tomonori's reply follows in the next poem, forming an exchange.
The poet, "the posthumous Chancellor," is Fujiwara no Tokihira. Eldest son of Fujiwara no Mototsune, he rose to Minister of the Left and was posthumously granted the office of Chancellor, hence the title. He is known for having Sugawara no Michizane exiled to Dazaifu.

The first line, "Ima made ni," means "until now," looking back over long years.
The second line, "nado ka wa hana no," means "why is it that the blossoms," with "ka" an interrogative binding particle closed by the attributive "suru" in the last line. The "blossoms" stand for prospering in office.
The third line, "sakazu shite," means "without opening."
The fourth line, "yosotose amari," means "forty years and more," taking Tomonori's answer in the headnote straight into the poem.
The last line, "toshikiri wa suru," means "do you go on bearing nothing," with "toshikiri" a fruit tree's failing to flower or bear in some years. It closes the "ka" of the second line with the attributive "suru." The word "toshikiri" also appears in 1109 and 1110 of this book, so the theme recurs.
Author: Fujiwara no Tokihira
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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