Mate to iite tanomeshi aki mo suginureba kaeru yamaji no na zo kai mo naki - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

待てと言ひて頼めし秋も過ぎぬれば
帰る山路の名ぞかひもなき

Roma-ji: Mate to iite tanomeshi aki mo suginureba kaeru yamaji no na zo kai mo naki
English Translation: You said, "Wait for me,"
and had me count on autumn,
but that too has passed,
and the name of the road of Kaeru,
"Return," now means nothing
Meaning: You told me to wait and made me count on autumn, but autumn too has passed, and the very name of the Kaeru road, "Return," has proved worthless.
Commentary: Book Seven Parting Poems 493

Headnote: "Sent when someone who had gone to the Koshi provinces in summer said he would surely come back in autumn and asked me to wait, but did not return even by winter"
Sent when someone who had gone down to the Koshi provinces in summer said he would surely return to the capital in autumn and asked the poet to wait, but did not come back even when winter arrived. You told me to wait and made me count on autumn, but autumn has passed, and the name of the Kaeru road, "Return," is worth nothing, the poet says. Taking up the name of Mount Kaeru on the road to Koshi, he conveys his reproach to the one who has not returned with a touch of playful wit.
The author, "the Monk Saijū," was a monk of the cloister period whose lay name was Minamoto no Suemasa. He is known as a close friend of Saigyō, with whom he traveled on ascetic journeys.

First line, "mate to iite": "saying 'wait for me,'" a line with an extra syllable.
Second line, "tanomeshi aki mo": "tanome" is the continuative of "tanomu" in its bigrade sense, to make someone rely on, and "shi" the attributive of the past "ki," "the autumn you made me count on."
Third line, "suginureba": "nure" is the perfective form of "nu," and with "ba" gives a reason, "since it has passed."
Fourth line, "kaeru yamaji no": the mountain road of Kaeru, a poetic place in Echizen whose name means "return." Poem 481 of this book also sings of "kaeru yamaji"; where there the one seeing off pleads not to be forgotten even when snow closes the road, here the one waiting reproaches someone who does not return.
Fifth line, "na zo kai mo naki": "zo" closes with the attributive "naki," "the name 'Return' is worthless if he does not come back."
Author: Saijū
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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