Imasara ni nani ka o shinobu hanasusuki ho ni ideshi aki mo tare naranaku ni

今更に何かを忍ぶ花薄
ほに出でし秋も誰ならなくに

Roma-ji: Imasara ni nani ka o shinobu hanasusuki ho ni ideshi aki mo tare naranaku ni
English Translation: Why now, so late,
what is there to hide away?
That autumn when the pampas
put forth its plumes for all to see,
was it not we two, and no one else?
Meaning: What is there to hide now, so late? That autumn when our love showed itself like the plumes of pampas grass, was it not the two of us, and no one else?
Commentary: Love Poems 506

Headnote: "Love that met once and meets no more"
Having once met, why hide now? That autumn when their love came into the open like plumes of pampas grass, it was none other than the two of them. The poem laments a love that met once and meets no more.
The Ruijū text titles it "Love that met and meets no more." Kamo no Mabuchi marked this poem with a circle.

Line 1 means "now, at this late time."
Line 2 means "what is there to hide?" ka a rhetorical binding particle concluded by shinobu; the poem pauses here.
Line 3 names pampas grass in plume, leading to ho.
Line 4 plays on ho, plumes appearing and love showing, with an extra syllable; against "not coming out in plume" in 498, it sings of love brought into the open.
Line 5 means "it was no one else."
Author: Minamoto no Sanetomo
Source: Kinkaishu
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