Haru kite zo hito mo toikeru yamazato wa hana koso yado no aruji narikere - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

春来てぞ人も訪ひける山里は
花こそ宿の主なりけれ

Roma-ji: Haru kite zo hito mo toikeru yamazato wa hana koso yado no aruji narikere
English Translation: Only when spring comes
do people come to call on me;
in the mountain village
it is the blossoms that are
the masters of the house.
Meaning: Only now that spring has come do people pay a visit; in this mountain village, it is the blossoms who are the true masters of the house.
Commentary: Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Spring Poems 1015

Headnote: "When people came to see the blossoms in splendid bloom at his mountain villa in Kita-Shirakawa"
The poet says that only now that spring has come do people visit, and that in the mountain village it is the blossoms who are master of the house. The headnote shows it was composed when people came to see the blossoms in splendid bloom at his mountain villa in Kita-Shirakawa. Mocking himself for his usual loneliness, saying that people come not for the master but for the blossoms, he praises their beauty.
The author, written as "Kintō, Intendant of the Right Gate Guards," is Fujiwara no Kintō. A son of the Chancellor Fujiwara no Yoritada, he rose to Provisional Major Counselor and was called the Shijō Major Counselor. He compiled the Wakan Rōeishū and wrote the poetic treatise Shinsen Zuinō.

First line, "haru kite zo," means "only when spring has come," with the binding particle "zo" resolved by the attributive form "keru" in the second line.
Second line, "hito mo toikeru," means "do people come to call," and the poem breaks after this second line.
Third line, "yamazato wa," means "in the mountain village," pointing to the mountain villa at Kita-Shirakawa of the headnote.
Fourth line, "hana koso yado no," means "it is the blossoms who, of the house," with the binding particle "koso" resolved by the perfective form "kere" in the final line.
Final line, "aruji narikere," means "are the master," with "kere" expressing a sigh of realization. It shares the word "aruji" with the fourth line of 1006 in this book, "aruji nashi tote," pairing the plum of a house that has lost its master with a mountain dwelling where the blossoms themselves are master.
Author: Fujiwara no Kintō
Source: Shui Wakashu
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