Waga seko o Matsuchi no yama no kuzukazura tamasaka ni dani kuru yoshi mogana

わが背子を待乳の山の葛かづら
たまさかにだにくる由もがな

Roma-ji: Waga seko o Matsuchi no yama no kuzukazura tamasaka ni dani kuru yoshi mogana
English Translation: Waiting for my love
as Matsuchi's name implies,
like the arrowroot vine
I'd draw, if only now and then,
there were a way for you to come.
Meaning: Like the arrowroot vine on Mount Matsuchi, whose name means waiting for my love, I would draw you to me; if only there were some way for you to come, even now and then.
Commentary: Love Poems 475

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Composed on the theme of love at famous places"
As one draws in the arrowroot vines on Mount Matsuchi, whose name means waiting for a lover, the poet wishes there were some way his beloved might come to him, even rarely.
This poem was included in the Shokukokin Wakashū. The Ruijū text places it in the section of poems found in another manuscript and in printed editions. The base text glosses line 5 with nashi.

Line 1 means "my dear one," leading on to "wait."
Line 2 names Mount Matsuchi in Kii, with a pun on matsu, "wait," taking up the waiting of the two preceding poems.
Line 3 names the arrowroot vine, which leads to kuru, "draw in."
Line 4 means "even now and then," dani expressing a minimal wish.
Line 5 plays on kuru, "to reel in a vine" and "to come"; mogana expresses a wish.
Author: Minamoto no Sanetomo
Source: Kinkaishu
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