Na ni shi owaba iza tazunemimu ausaka no sekiji ni niou hana wa ari ya to

名にし負はばいざ尋ね見むあふ坂の
関路に匂ふ花はありやと

Roma-ji: Na ni shi owaba iza tazunemimu ausaka no sekiji ni niou hana wa ari ya to
English Translation: If you bear that name,
then come, let me go and see—
Ōsaka, "meeting hill":
along the barrier road in bloom,
are there blossoms I may meet?
Meaning: If you truly bear the name of "meeting," then let me go and see, Ōsaka—are there blossoms glowing along your barrier road?
Commentary: Spring Poems 66

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Blossoms on the barrier road"
If the Ōsaka Barrier bears the name of "meeting," surely one can meet blossoms there—so the poet resolves to seek out the flowers on the barrier road. Taking the meaning hidden in the place name as a clue, he lightly expresses his longing for blossoms. Kamo no Mabuchi said tazunemimu is a later phrasing.
The poem takes as its source Ariwara no Narihira's Kokinshū poem addressing the capital bird: if it bears that name, he will ask whether the one he loves is still alive. The Ruijū text places it among the miscellaneous poems. The last line differs from the original, but the editor corrected it on the basis of a marginal note and the Ruijū text, and that correction is followed here.

Line 1: shi is emphatic, "if you bear that name"; it uses the first line of Narihira's poem as it is.
Line 2: iza invites and mu expresses intention; the poem pauses here. Mabuchi judged this a later style.
Line 3: ausaka carries au, "to meet," the meaning the name bears; it is the same pivot word as in the preceding poem, 65.
Line 4 is the same line as in the preceding poem.
Line 5 echoes ari ya nashi ya to of the source, ending with a question whether blossoms are there, in inversion.
Author: Minamoto no Sanetomo
Source: Kinkaishu
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