Furusato e ware wa kaerinu Takekuma no matsu to wa tare ni tsugeyo to ka omou - Shika Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

故郷へ我は帰りぬ武隈の
まつとは誰に告げよとか思ふ

Roma-ji: Furusato e ware wa kaerinu Takekuma no matsu to wa tare ni tsugeyo to ka omou
English Translation: Back to my old home
I am going now — so then,
like Takekuma's pine,
that you wait for me, to whom
do you think I should tell it
Meaning: I am going back to my old home; then to whom do you expect me to say that you are waiting, like the pine of Takekuma?
Commentary: Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems I 338

Drawing on the pine of Takekuma, a poetic place in Michinoku, the poet asks, since he is returning home, to whom he is supposed to report that someone waits. Playing "matsu" as both pine and waiting, the poem conveys the loneliness of a parting in which there is no one left to tell.

The first line, "furusato e" (to my old home), names the destination.
The second line, "ware wa kaerinu," uses the perfective "nu": I am going home, with a break after the second line.
The third line, "Takekuma no," names a poetic place in Michinoku Province, famous for its twin-trunked pine.
The fourth line, "matsu to wa tare ni," is a pivot word joining the "pine" (matsu) of Takekuma and "waiting" (matsu).
The final line, "tsugeyo to ka omou," forms a kakari-musubi of "ka" and the attributive "omou," turning the question back: to whom do you mean me to tell it?
Source: Shika Wakashu
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