Oya no oya to omowamashikaba toitemashi waga ko no ko ni wa aranu narubeshi - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

親の親と思はましかば訪ひてまし
我が子の子にはあらぬなるべし

Roma-ji: Oya no oya to omowamashikaba toitemashi waga ko no ko ni wa aranu narubeshi
English Translation: Had he thought of me
as his own parent's parent,
he'd have come to call;
it seems that he must not be
the child of a child of mine.
Meaning: Had he thought of me as his parent's parent, he would have come to visit; it seems he is not my child's child after all.
Commentary: Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems II 545

Headnote: "When Minamoto no Shigeyuki's mother was at the provincial office in Ōmi, her grandson, going up to the capital by night from the east, sent word that he had urgent business and would go up this time without seeing her, and the aunt composed this"
The poet, with a touch of reproach, says that had the grandson thought of her as his parent's parent he would have come, so it must be that he is not her grandchild. The headnote shows that when Minamoto no Shigeyuki's mother was at the provincial office of Ōmi, her grandson, passing at night from the east on his way to the capital, sent word that he had urgent business and would go up without seeing her, and the aunt then composed this poem. Taking the grandmother's part, she playfully chides the grandson who did not stop by.
The author, the Aunt of Minamoto no Shigeyuki, was a woman who was an aunt of the poet Minamoto no Shigeyuki, and her name has not come down. Minamoto no Shigeyuki was a son of Minamoto no Kanenobu and is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "oya no oya to," means "as a parent's parent," that is, a grandmother. It is a hypermetric line of six syllables.
Second line, "omowamashikaba," means "had he thought," with "mashika" a form of the counterfactual auxiliary "mashi," answering "mashi" in the third line.
Third line, "toitemashi," means "he would have visited," completing the counterfactual "mashikaba ... mashi." The poem breaks after this third line.
Fourth line, "waga ko no ko ni wa," means "my child's child," that is, a grandchild, paired with "oya no oya" in the first line.
Final line, "aranu narubeshi," means "he must not be," with "naru" assertive and "beshi" conjectural.
Author: Aunt of Minamoto no Shigeyuki
Source: Shui Wakashu
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