Takigi koru koto wa kinō ni tsukinishi o iza ono no e wa koko ni kutasan - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

薪こることは昨日に尽きにしを
いざをのの柄はここに朽たさん

Roma-ji: Takigi koru koto wa kinō ni tsukinishi o iza ono no e wa koko ni kutasan
English Translation: The cutting of wood
for the rite was finished
just yesterday;
come, then, let the axe's handle
rot away here in Ono.
Meaning: The gathering of firewood for the rite came to an end yesterday. Come, let us stay here at Ono until the handle of our axe rots away.
Commentary: Book Twenty Lament Poems 1339

Headnote: "When, on the day after Lord Tamemasa had held a sutra offering at Fumonji, she was returning with others and stopped at Ono, and the blossoms were lovely"
The poet says that the cutting of firewood ended yesterday, and so let the axe handle rot here at Ono. The headnote shows that Fujiwara no Tamemasa held a sutra offering at Fumonji, and on the next day, returning with others, she stopped at Ono, where the blossoms were lovely. Drawing on the procession at the Eight Lectures on the Lotus Sutra in which the "firewood cutting" poem is chanted, and on the Chinese tale of a woodcutter whose axe handle rotted as he watched immortals play go, she says let us forget time and enjoy the blossoms. She pivots "ono," axe, on the place name Ono. Fujiwara no Tamemasa was the husband of her elder sister.
The author, written as "Mother of the Master of the Crown Prince's Household Michitsuna," is the Mother of Fujiwara no Michitsuna. A daughter of Fujiwara no Tomoyasu, she became a wife of Fujiwara no Kaneie and bore Michitsuna. She wrote the Kagerō Diary and is known for her poem "nagekitsutsu" in the Hyakunin Isshu.
"Kyōkuji" in the headnote of the main text is taken to mean "kyōkuyō," a sutra offering.

First line, "takigi koru," means "cutting firewood," drawing on the "firewood cutting" poem chanted at the Eight Lectures and meaning the rite. It shares this word with the third line of 1346 in this book, "takigi kori."
Second line, "koto wa kinō ni," means "the matter, yesterday," the sutra offering of the headnote having ended the day before.
Third line, "tsukinishi o," means "since it has ended," with "nishi" perfective and past auxiliaries.
Fourth line, "iza ono no e wa," is a pivot word: "ono" means "axe" and the place name "Ono." It draws on the tale of the rotted axe handle.
Final line, "koko ni kutasan," means "let it rot here," with "n" an auxiliary of intention, speaking of forgetting time to enjoy the blossoms.
Author: The Mother of Fujiwara no Michitsuna
Source: Shui Wakashu
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