Akihagi no hana mo ueokanu yado nareba shika tachiyoramu tokoro dani nashi - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

秋萩の花も植ゑおかぬ宿なれば
しか立ち寄らむ所だになし

Roma-ji: Akihagi no hana mo ueokanu yado nareba shika tachiyoramu tokoro dani nashi
English Translation: Since my house is one
where not even autumn's bush clover
has ever been planted,
there's no place at all where deer,
or you, might stop on your way.
Meaning: My house has not even autumn bush clover planted in it, so there is no place at all for a deer, or for you, to stop by.
Commentary: Book Nineteen Miscellaneous Love Poems 1223

Headnote: "When a man told a woman serving in a noble household that he would visit her secretly around autumn"
The poet says that since her house has not even autumn bush clover planted, there is no place for a deer to stop. The headnote shows it was her answer when a man told her, a woman serving in a noble household, that he would visit her in secret in the autumn. Likening the man to the deer said to seek out bush clover as its mate, and pivoting on "shika," deer and "so," she gently refuses, saying there is no place where he could come in secret.

First line, "akihagi no," means "of the autumn bush clover," the flower the deer is said to seek as its mate.
Second line, "hana mo ueokanu," means "where not even the flowers are planted," a hypermetric line of eight syllables.
Third line, "yado nareba," means "since it is a house," with "ba" after the perfective form expressing cause.
Fourth line, "shika tachiyoramu," is a pivot word: "shika" means "deer" and "so." It layers a place where a deer might stop with a place where you might so stop.
Final line, "tokoro dani nashi," means "there is not even a place," with "dani" a particle that names a lesser thing to imply the greater.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
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