Toki narade hahaso no momiji chirinikeri ika ni ko no moto sabishikaruran - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

時ならでははその紅葉散りにけり
いかにこのもとさびしかるらん

Roma-ji: Toki narade hahaso no momiji chirinikeri ika ni ko no moto sabishikaruran
English Translation: Out of season,
the leaves of the oak, mother-tree,
have fallen down;
beneath the tree, by her child,
how lonely it must be now.
Meaning: Out of season, the colored leaves of the hahaso oak have fallen. How lonely it must be beneath the tree, and beside you, the child left behind.
Commentary: Book Twenty Lament Poems 1284

Headnote: "Sent to the Fifth Princess with hahaso oak leaves that had lingered unfallen into summer"
The emperor says that out of season the colored leaves of the hahaso oak have fallen, and how lonely it must be beneath the tree. The headnote shows it was sent to the Fifth Princess with hahaso leaves that had lingered into summer. Letting "hahaso" echo "haha," mother, and pivoting on "ko no moto," beneath the tree and beside the child, it seems to liken a mother who died before her time to leaves fallen out of season, and to imagine the loneliness of the princess who lost her.
The author, written as "Composed by the Tenryaku Emperor," is Emperor Murakami. A son of Emperor Daigo, his reign was praised as the Tenryaku Rule, and he ordered the compilation of the Gosenshū.

First line, "toki narade," means "out of season," for the leaves fell in summer.
Second line, "hahaso no momiji," means "the colored leaves of the hahaso oak," with "hahaso" echoing "haha," mother.
Third line, "chirinikeri," means "have fallen," and the poem breaks after this third line.
Fourth line, "ika ni ko no moto," is a pivot word: "ko no moto" means "beneath the tree" and "beside the child." It shares the same pivot with the final line of 1311 in this book, "ko no moto mo nashi."
Final line, "sabishikaruran," means "how lonely it must be," with "ran" the auxiliary of present conjecture.
Author: Emperor Murakami
Source: Shui Wakashu
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