Mukashi waga orishi katsura no kai mo nashi tsuki no hayashi no meshi ni iraneba - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

昔我が折りし桂のかひもなし
月の林の召しに入らねば

Roma-ji: Mukashi waga orishi katsura no kai mo nashi tsuki no hayashi no meshi ni iraneba
English Translation: Of no use at all
the laurel branch I broke
in the days of old,
since I was not summoned
to the forest of the moon.
Meaning: It is of no use that long ago I broke the laurel branch and passed the examinations, for I was not summoned to the Forest of the Moon.
Commentary: Book Eight Miscellaneous Poems I 472

Headnote: "When Lord Seishin went to Getsurinji, composed by one who arrived late"
The poet says that his having broken the laurel, passing the examinations long ago, is of no use, since he was not summoned to the Forest of the Moon. The headnote shows he composed it after arriving late when Lord Seishin, Fujiwara no Saneyori, went to Getsurinji. Drawing on the saying "to break the laurel" for passing the official examinations and seeing the temple's name, "Moon Forest," as the laurel forest on the moon, he wittily voices his discontent at not being summoned as a man of letters. The next poem, 473, also sings of breaking the moon's laurel, and the two form a pair.
The author, Fujiwara no Nochio, is said to have been a mid-Heian man of letters trained in the way of letters, but the details of his life are unclear.
From the Chinese legend that a laurel grows on the moon, and the story of Xi Shen of Jin likening his success in the examinations to a single branch from the laurel forest, passing the examinations came to be called "breaking the laurel."

First line, "mukashi waga," means "long ago, I."
Second line, "orishi katsura no," means "of the laurel I broke," referring to passing the examinations, with "shi" the attributive form of the past auxiliary "ki." The third line of the next poem, "oru bakari," draws on the same story.
Third line, "kai mo nashi," means "is of no use," and the poem breaks here.
Fourth line, "tsuki no hayashi no," means "of the Forest of the Moon," seeing the temple name Getsurinji as the forest of laurels growing on the moon.
Final line, "meshi ni iraneba," means "since I was not among those summoned," with "ne" the perfective form of the negative "zu" and "ba" expressing a reason. Through inversion it gives afterward the reason for his lament.
Author: Fujiwara no Nochio
Source: Shui Wakashu
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