Nanishi owaba Sonokamiyama no aoigusa kakete mukashi o omoiidenamu

何し負はばそのかみ山のあふひ草
かけて昔を思ひ出でなむ

Roma-ji: Nanishi owaba Sonokamiyama no aoigusa kakete mukashi o omoiidenamu
English Translation: If true to your name,
hollyhock from the hill
of days gone by,
then for its sake I pray you,
remember what once was.
Meaning: If you bear your name truly, hollyhock of Kamo's sacred hill, the "day we meet," then for that name's sake, remember the days of long ago.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 625

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Composed on the same shrine"
Since the hollyhock of Kamo's sacred hill bears the name aoi, "the day we meet," the poet asks it to remember, for the sake of that name, the days they met long ago. It ties the Kamo hollyhock to the memory of love, echoing the Gosenshū poem by the Sanjō Minister of the Right that begins "if true to your name."
The Ruijū text places it in its love section.

Line 1 means "if you bear the name," nani written for na ni.
Line 2 names the sacred hill of Kamo, sonokami meaning also "long ago," echoing "the past" in line 4.
Line 3 means "hollyhock," aoi meaning both the plant and "day of meeting," the same word as the opening of the preceding poem.
Line 4 means "by that name, the past," kake echoing "hung" in the preceding poem.
Line 5 means "please remember," namu expressing a wish addressed to another.
Author: Minamoto no Sanetomo
Source: Kinkaishu
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