Kaerusa o isoganu hodo no michi naraba nodoka ni mine no hana wa mitemashi - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

帰るさを急がぬほどの道ならば
のどかに峰の花は見てまし

Roma-ji: Kaerusa o isoganu hodo no michi naraba nodoka ni mine no hana wa mitemashi
English Translation: If it were a road
where one need not hurry
on the journey home,
at leisure I would gaze upon
the blossoms on the peaks
Meaning: If this were a road on which you need not hurry home, I could gaze at leisure on the blossoms on the peaks.
Commentary: Book One Spring Poems I 47

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Composed on the theme "seeking mountain blossoms from afar" on the day he returned from a visit to the Konoe residence"
Like the preceding poem, this one was composed on the theme "seeking mountain blossoms from afar" on the day Retired Emperor Sutoku returned from the Konoe residence. If only it were a road on which there was no need to hurry home, the poet says, he could gaze at leisure on the cherries of the peaks. Regret at the Retired Emperor's departure overlaps with sorrow at not being able to view the blossoms to his heart's content.
The author, "the Hosshōji Lay Priest and Former Chancellor," is Fujiwara no Tadamichi, son of Chancellor Fujiwara no Tadazane. He served successively as Regent, Chancellor and Grand Minister, later took holy orders, and was called the Lord of Hosshōji. He was the father of Kujō Kanezane.

First line, "kaerusa o": "kaerusa" means the way home, the time of returning.
Second line, "isoganu hodo no": "such that one need not hurry."
Third line, "michi naraba": a hypothetical condition, "if it were a road."
Fourth line, "nodoka ni mine no": "nodoka ni" means "at leisure." The word also appears in 44 of this book, conveying the calm spring mood of welcoming the Retired Emperor's outing.
Fifth line, "hana wa mitemashi": "mashi" is counterfactual, answering "naraba" in the third line and conveying regret that the road home must in fact be hurried. Composed at the same gathering as the preceding poem, 46, it answers the Retired Emperor's poem of approaching the blossoms' scent with a heart reluctant to leave them.
Author: Fujiwara no Tadamichi
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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