Tazunete mo tare ni ka towamu furusato no hana mo mukashi no aruji naraneba

尋ねても誰にか問はむ故郷の
花も昔の主ならねば

Roma-ji: Tazunete mo tare ni ka towamu furusato no hana mo mukashi no aruji naraneba
English Translation: Though I come seeking,
whom am I to ask of the past?
At the old homestead
even the blossoms belong
no more to their master of old.
Meaning: Even if I come seeking, whom can I ask? At the old home, even the blossoms no longer belong to their master of old.
Commentary: Spring Poems 63

Headnote: "Blossoms at the old capital"
The poet laments that even if he visits the old place, there is no one to ask about the past. The flowers bloom, but their owner is no longer the person of old—the changes of the human world are entrusted to the blossoms. Kamo no Mabuchi said the lower verse is in a later manner.

Line 1 means "even if I visit."
Line 2: the particle ka with the attributive of mu forms a kakarimusubi, and the poem pauses here; it shares the idea of 32, "to whom shall I go to ask of old times?"
Line 3, "At the old homestead," takes up the topic.
Line 4: mo adds "even the blossoms, not only people."
Line 5 gives the reason, "since they are not their master's," in inversion.
Author: Minamoto no Sanetomo
Source: Kinkaishu
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