Musubiokishi katami no ko dani nakariseba nani ni shinobu no kusa o tsumamashi - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

結びおきしかたみの子だになかりせば
何にしのぶの草を摘ままし

Roma-ji: Musubiokishi katami no ko dani nakariseba nani ni shinobu no kusa o tsumamashi
English Translation: Were there not left to us
these children, keepsakes of the bond
she tied and left behind,
with what would I gather in
the grass of fond remembrance
Meaning: If not even these children were left, keepsakes of the bond she tied before she died, with what could I gather the grass of remembrance?
Commentary: Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Poems II 1187

Headnote: "When Lord Kanetada's mother had died, it was arranged that Kanetada would serve in the house of the late Biwa Minister of the Left and his sister in the Empress's household; when both were first sent to the Biwa house, this was added."
The poet asks with what she could gather the grass of remembrance, were not even these children, keepsakes left behind, still here. As she sends Kanetada and his sister, who have lost their mother, off to the Biwa house, she mourns her late mistress and expresses her affection for the departing children, the one thing left by which to remember her.
According to the headnote, when Kanetada's mother died, it was settled that Kanetada would serve in the house of the late Biwa Minister of the Left, Fujiwara no Nakahira, and his sister in the Empress's household, and this was added when both were first sent to the Biwa house. Lord Kanetada appears to be Minamoto no Kanetada, a grandson of Emperor Seiwa, and the Empress seems to be Nakahira's sister, Fujiwara no Yasuko (Onshi).
The poet was the nurse of Kanetada's mother, whose name has not come down to us.

The first line, "Musubiokishi," means "tied and left behind," with an extra syllable. It refers to what the late mother left.
The second line, "katami no ko dani," means "even the children, her keepsakes," with "katami" joining keepsake and a woven basket for gathering herbs, in keeping with "tsumu," to pick.
The third line, "nakariseba," means "if there were not," forming the counterfactual "seba ... mashi."
The fourth line, "nani ni shinobu no," means "with what, of remembrance," with "shinobu" joining remembering the dead and the shinobu fern.
The last line, "kusa o tsumamashi," means "would I gather the grass," with "mashi" the counterfactual auxiliary answering "seba" in the third line.
Author: Nurse of the Mother of Minamoto no Kanetada
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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