Ima wa shimo ho ni idenuran Azumaji no Iwata no ono no shino no osusuki - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

今はしもほに出でぬらむ東路の
岩田の小野の篠の小薄

Roma-ji: Ima wa shimo ho ni idenuran Azumaji no Iwata no ono no shino no osusuki
English Translation: By now, surely,
they have put forth their plumes,
on the eastern road,
in the little field of Iwata,
the slender pampas grass
Meaning: By now, surely, the slender pampas grass in the little field of Iwata along the eastern road must be putting forth its plumes.
Commentary: Book Four Autumn Poems I 271

Headnote: "Composed on the topic 'Thinking of Flowers in the Fields'"
Composed on the topic "Thinking of Flowers in the Fields." By now, surely, the slender pampas grass growing in the little field of Iwata along the road to the eastern provinces must have put forth its plumes. A poem of imagining autumn grasses in a distant field not before one's eyes, it lets "ho ni izu," to put forth plumes, echo the sense of feelings coming to the surface, layering onto it a deepening longing for the far-off fields.
The author, "Fujiwara no Koreie," was a courtier of the late Heian period. Little is known of his life.
Where 245 of this book sang of the flowering pampas grass of a mountain village before one's eyes, this poem imagines the pampas grass of fields far along the eastern road.

First line, "ima wa shimo": "shimo" is emphatic: "by now, surely."
Second line, "ho ni idenuran": "ho ni izu" is a pivot phrase for pampas putting forth plumes and for feelings coming to the surface. "Nu" is perfective and "ramu" present conjecture, guessing at a distant scene. The poem pauses here and is inverted with the lines that follow.
Third line, "Azumaji no": "Azumaji" is the road from the capital to the eastern provinces.
Fourth line, "Iwata no ono no": Iwata no Ono is the name of a field along the way to the east, with "o" in "ono" a prefix.
Fifth line, "shino no osusuki": ends on a noun, pampas grass growing thin and dense like bamboo grass, with "o" a prefix. Following "hanasusuki" in 245 of this book, it treats pampas grass.
Author: Fujiwara no Koreie
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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