Momijiba no mi ni kuru made mo chirazaraba takase no fune no ikaga kogaren - Izumi Shikibu Nikki(English Translation & Meaning)

紅葉はのみにくる迄もちらさらは
高瀨の舟のいかゝ焦れん

Roma-ji: Momijiba no mi ni kuru made mo chirazaraba takase no fune no ikaga kogaren
English Translation: If the crimson leaves
would stay upon the branch until
you came to see them,
why then would this river boat
row out, yearning so?
Meaning: If the crimson leaves would only stay unfallen until you came to see them, why would this river boat be rowing out in such longing?
Commentary: 32 The Promise to View Autumn Leaves

On the evening of their exchange on the frosty morning, the prince came and invited her: "How lovely the autumn leaves on the mountains must be now. Come, let us go and see them," and Izumi Shikibu replied, "That would be delightful." But when the day came, the prince sent word: "Today I must stay shut in for a day of abstinence, which is a great pity. Once it is over, without fail." That night the winter showers fell harder than usual, with a sound as though every leaf on the trees would be stripped away. Waking, Izumi Shikibu murmured to herself, "before the wind," and spent the rest of the night regretting that the leaves must all have fallen and wishing they had gone to see them the day before.
The woman is Izumi Shikibu, daughter of Ōe no Masamune and, as the wife of Tachibana no Michisada, Governor of Izumi, mother of Koshikibu no Naishi. The Prince of the Dazaifu is Prince Atsumichi, fourth son of Emperor Reizei, so called because he served as Governor-General of the Dazaifu. A day of abstinence was a period of staying shut indoors and keeping oneself pure in order to avoid misfortune, according to the art of yin and yang.
When the prince's "Yamabe ni wa kuruma ni norite yukubeki o takase no fune wa ikaga yorubeki," which seemed to have forgotten the matter of the hindrance, arrived, Izumi Shikibu sent back this poem.
With this reply the day came to an end. Later, when the prince came and the direction of her house was closed to him, he took her away in the greatest secrecy, as before, to the place where he was staying to avoid the forbidden direction.

The opening lines mean "if the crimson leaves, even until you come to see them," carrying on the talk of viewing the leaves. The third line poses the condition "if they did not fall."
The lower verses ask "why would the river boat be rowed?" where "kogaren" means both to row a boat and to burn with longing, with a rhetorical construction. Taking up his "river boat," she sums up their crossed exchange: if the leaves would wait unfallen for him forever, she would not be rowing out in such yearning, and so conveys how she longs for his visit.
Author: Izumi Shikibu
Source: Izumi Shikibu Nikki
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