Ouredomo koma mo susamenu ayamegusa kari ni mo hito no konu ga wabishisa - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

生ふれども駒もすさめぬあやめ草
かりにも人の来ぬがわびしさ

Roma-ji: Ouredomo koma mo susamenu ayamegusa kari ni mo hito no konu ga wabishisa
English Translation: Though it grows on still,
the iris no horse will touch
is cut by no one;
how forlorn that you will not
come, not even for a while.
Meaning: Though it grows, the iris that not even horses care for is cut by no one; so too, how forlorn it is that you will not come to me, not even in passing.
Commentary: Book Twelve Love Poems II 768

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poem says that the iris that not even horses care for is cut by no one, and laments in the same way that the beloved will not come even in passing. Pivoting "kari" on "cutting" grass and "kari ni," in passing, it lays over the neglected iris the poet who is not visited by the beloved. Together with the preceding poem, 767, it sings of the iris.
The author, written as "Mitsune," is Ōshikōchi no Mitsune. One of the compilers of the Kokinshū, he is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets and is known for his poem "kokoroate ni oraba ya oramu hatsushimo no" in the Hyakunin Isshu.
The second line of the main text reads "susamenu," which does not match "susahenu" in the reading line. Here the main text is followed.

First line, "ouredomo," means "though it grows," with "domo" concessive.
Second line, "koma mo susamenu," means "that not even horses care for," with "susamu" meaning to favor or delight in. The reading line has "susahenu."
Third line, "ayamegusa," is the iris, the same line as the third line of the preceding poem, 767. Up to here the lines lead into "kari" in the fourth line.
Fourth line, "kari ni mo hito no," is a pivot word: "kari" means "cutting" the iris and "kari ni," in passing, giving "you, not even in passing."
Final line, "konu ga wabishisa," means "how forlorn that you do not come," ending on a noun with a note of grief.
Author: Oshikochi no Mitsune
Source: Shui Wakashu
Prev Poem: Itsuka to mo omowanu sawa no ayamegusa tada tsukuzuku to ne koso nakarure
Next Poem: Kayaribi wa mono omou hito no kokoro ka mo natsu no yosugara shita ni moyuran