Matsu hito no ima mo kitaraba ikaga semu fumamaku oshiki niwa no yuki kana - Shika Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

待つ人の今も来たらばいかがせむ
踏ままく惜しき庭の雪かな

Roma-ji: Matsu hito no ima mo kitaraba ikaga semu fumamaku oshiki niwa no yuki kana
English Translation: The one I wait for—
if he should come this moment,
what am I to do?
How I’d hate to see it trodden,
the snow upon my garden.
Meaning: If the one I am waiting for should come this very moment, what shall I do? How I would hate to see it trampled, this snow lying in my garden.
Commentary: Book Four Winter Poems 158

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
While longing for her lover’s visit, the speaker hesitates, knowing that if he comes, the lovely snow in her garden will bear his footprints. The sway between waiting and cherishing the snow shows Izumi Shikibu’s characteristic candor.
The poem also appears in the Kin’yōshū.

First line, “matsu hito no”: “the one I wait for,” bringing a hint of love into the winter scene.
Second line, “ima mo kitaraba”: the irrealis of perfective “tari” with “ba,” “if he should come now.”
Third line, “ikaga semu”: “what shall I do?”, voicing her hesitation; the poem breaks here.
Fourth line, “fumamaku oshiki”: “maku” is the nominalized form of conjectural “mu,” “regrettable that it will be trodden.” Like 142, which leaves the fallen leaves unswept, it shows reluctance to spoil what covers the garden.
Fifth line, “niwa no yuki kana”: “kana” adds exclamation to the closing noun.
Author: Izumi Shikibu
Source: Shika Wakashu
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